Parallel Life
by thezora99
Summary: After being hurted far too often, he decides to flee out of his life. Soon other doors opened, but will he take the chance to regain a purpose in his life? /-/ Re-telling of Xenoblade 2 through the eyes of an OC with a few changes made. (OCxPyra)
1. Prologue: Dreaminess

_(Authors note) I just started new game plus after I didn't touched Xenoblade for over a year unfortunately. I instantly fell in love with it again. I won't say much to the ideas I will be putting into this Fic, because I don't want to spoil anyone. So lets get on with the prologue._

_I've__ listened to The Power of Jin and Land of Morytha to give myself some atmosphere ':D I__'__m also from Germany so my english is far from perfect, but I really hope you all enjoy it a bit nevertheless 3_

* * *

**Xenoblade Chronicles 2**

**Parallel Life**

Prologue: Dreaminess

_The Cloud Sea. Just watching it moving makes me daydreaming. All the things I could find deep inside it, all the things that could be helping the people here in Alrest._

I can't remember how I've got here, on this ship they called Monoceros. I just remember that the people here took me on board, after I promised to them I would help them in any available way, so they ordered me to dive deep into the cloud sea. I gained the respect of them, because I was by far the most efficient guy among us. I don't know what we are searching for, just that a guy named Jin said that this would make the world a better place. That's all I needed to hear. I would do anything-

_"Hey you're up there?"_ ,called someone down one floor. I recognized that it was Malos' voice.

_"Yes, is there something I could help with?"_ ,I asked, trying to be helpful like always. He walked up the stairs to face me.

_"No, I just wanted to say that tomorrow we will reach our destination. It's our biggest discovery so far so you need to prepare yourself! You'll be the ones who are gonna lift up a wreck from the ground of the cloud sea and I want you to lead it. Me, Jin and Nia are busy with something else after that."_ ,he turned around and was gone as fast as he showed up. Meanwhile I noticed that the sun already vanished from the sky.

I had a couple of questions like what the three will be doing during our work but I'm not in the position to ask questions, I needed to learn that the hard way. I was always curious what they are up to, but I know I would only cause more trouble.

I slowly got back to my cabin. I folded up my diary and put a few new sentences in it.

_We will reach our destination tomorrow. I don't know what will await us but I hope its going to change the world to something better. Something I couldn't do somewhere else._

I closed the diary and blew out the little candle that I have lighted up. Without spending too much thought of will happen I slowly drifted into sleep. My mind went black.

* * *

...

_I will never get used to it. I just won't. Why am I even taking this so seriously..._

I slowly opened my eyes. It was raining and the air was cold. The wind howled through the tiny crowded streets. Eyes from people who went past me watched me in disgust. Tears started flowing down my face, as I tried to stand up. I unfolded the card box I slept in and grabbed my backpack, filled with the rest of my old life I once had.

* * *

**1 month ago**

_"We can't just tell him."_ ,yelled a strange man, while I was sitting in my room at home.

_"We need to."_ ,a woman answered. She wore a police uniform.

_"B-But he is already, mentally damaged!"_ ,he yelled at her again.

_"What do you want to do? Just wait until he finds out for himself?"_ The woman stayed calm. The man was looking at the ground and mumbled something I couldn't understand. After that he turned towards me.

_"Hey pal."_ ,he greeted me with a forced smile.

_"Hey."_ ,I simply answered. I was never good with strangers, who simply pushed themselves into my live.

_"I-I need to tell you something..."_ ,he was holding his chest while doing so. I could see tears in his eyes.

His mouth opened once again, but he swallowed his words back down. He was just staring at the ground.

_"Ok then I will tell him!"_ ,the woman yelled suddenly and pushed the man away from me.

_"Your parents and sisters died in a traffic accident and we are here to take you to somewhere safe."_ ,she yelled impatient.

My body went numb, unable to process what she just said. Everything went black in front of my eyes. _That's a joke right?_, I thought as I looked at the woman's face. She surely looked like she wasn't joking.

_They... are... gone...?_ ,I whispered to myself, emotions overflowing me.

_"I think we should leave him alone."_ ,I could hear the man say. After that I was the only one inside my room.

_I... was... alone..._ ,I simply whispered to myself. Tears rushed through my eyes and I started hitting my bed. I pressed my head deep inside my blanket.

Then it hitted me. I needed to go. But I needed to go alone. This world is simply too much for me and to prevent such pain from happening again I needed to go through it alone, forever, without binding myself to anyone ever again.

So I packed everything that had a meaning to me inside my old used backpack. An old photo of my family while I celebrated my birthday this year, an old necklace I have got from my mom and a baseball my dad brought me after he scored a home run. While I thought back to these memories my heart was hurting like it would explode every moment, but I simply didn't want to forget about them. I slowly pushed up the window in my room and got through it carefully. Luckily I was living in the first floor.

Then I ran. Ran as fast and as far as my feet could take me. Without a goal or destination. I wanted to flee from that pain, and the world.

* * *

I sighed and let out a deep breath. Before I decided to go, I took out the family photo and looked at it for a short time. I felt like I failed them. _Why did they need to die? Why was that happening to me..._ And then my thought shifted back to the time while I was sleeping. _And what are those dreams I am having everyday since I'm on my own..._

* * *

**1 day after I ran away**

Wind was breezing through my hair, but it felt different. The air felt much cleaner and I could feel the sun shining down on me.

_"Do you think he's dead?" _That's just seems like a waste of time.",a manly voice asked.

_"We couldn't just let him drown!"_ ,a feminine voice seemed to yell at him. I tried to open my eyes.

_"See! He is alive!"_ ,she stated while I tried adjusting to the sunlight.

_"Hope he will be a help for our operation."_ ,the man which seemed to wear purple armour said while he vanished around the corner.

_"Hey are you alright?"_ ,the woman asked me. I could finally start to see normally.

I instantly noticed that she... had ears like a cat. I didn't notice that I started staring at her for several seconds.

_"Um hello?"_ ,she said while giving me a concerned look, _"You never saw a Gormotti?"_

She started to laugh, while I tried to figure out where I am.

_"Where... Am I?"_ ,I simply asked her.

_"You're serious?"_ ,her face went from amused to annoyed, _"You are on the Monoceros. We won't be keeping you on here if you don't make yourself useful!"_

Even through her tone was pretty aggressive, I drew new hope out of this situation. Maybe all what was happening to me was simply a dark nightmare. Maybe this was a new chance for me.

I jumped out of the bed, much to surprise of the Gormotti.

_"I will do anything!"_ ,I yelled euphorically.

Another man came around the corner. It wasn't the same from before, he had white hair and wore a mask and bright lighter clothing.

_"Oh Jin I didn't see you there."_ ,the Gormotti started talking with him.

_"Will he be useful?"_ ,he simply asked, his voice without a single emotion. I looked at her hoping I wouldn't be thrown out. She also looked at me for a few seconds before turning over to him again.

_"Yes he will!"_ ,she said much to my relief.

_"If he does anything wrong you will face the consequences, Nia."_ ,he said before vanishing again. _So her name seems to be Nia,_ I thought to myself.

She looked at me with her annoyed face again.

_"You've heard him! Make yourself useful and we won't have any problems."_ ,she said while turning towards a big white tiger, which seemed to observe the whole situation for quite a while.

_"Dromarch, c'mon let__'__s go, see the others."_ ,she said to him.

_"Yes my lady."_ ,I looked at them in disbelief. _Wait was the tiger speaking to her?_ ,I thought to myself, but before I could say anything they were gone.

* * *

_"Hey loser stop staring at the wall!"_ ,a person yelled, ripping me out of my daydream, but it didn't bothered me. It was like that everyday, so I was used to it. Instead I turned back to what I thought about.

_"And the next few days I made myself useful and found all sorts of useful stuff while salvaging. But is it just a dream? Is it just a way to get away from this world somehow?"_ ,I asked myself while looking down on the wet streets.

_"No it can't be... it just can't..."_ ,I tried motivating myself. But I failed in doing so. I started walking through the streets again, looking at children which were playing with their parents.

_Why... why did I have to lose it all... why me..._ ,I asked myself over and over again.

Suddenly I heard a horn. I tried to turn around to look where it came from. Two lights were coming straight towards me while tires were squeaking.

* * *

(1761)


	2. Chapter 1: Curiosity

Chapter 1: Curiosity

* * *

_"Whoaaa!"_ ,I screamed while crossing my arms in front of my face. But nothing seemed to hit me.

_"Hey could you please stop crying?"_ ,asked me someone in a pretty annoyed tone in the distance.

I slowly removed my arms from my face. I... I was back on the Monoceros... but...

_"Get back to sleep!"_ the same person demanded.

_"Yeah yeah alright."_ I said apologetically while I laid down again.

_What the hell? Why am I here all of the sudden?_ My head started to hurt while trying to process everything. Then I remembered what I had to do tomorrow and what consequences would follow for me and Nia if I slept for too long. So I tried to get some sleep, also because I hoped it would fix everything that way.

* * *

The next Morning

_"Hey! Get up!"_ ,shouted Malos through the room. I woke up instantly and jumped on my feet.

_I didn't get..._ I shook my head as I cutted off my thoughts. I prepared everything as fast as I could and got upstairs to get my next orders.

_"Well you took your time."_ grunted Malos while he was looking out of the window. _"Your task isn't that complicated. So don__'__t fuck it up."_ He handed me over the gear I needed to bring on to the sunken ship. They were nearly a meter long and quite heavy.

_My task was clear. Bring on these things and bring up the ship. I don't know what they are searching for but... I would really like to know tho__..._ I thought.

Soon the whole team is up and ready to go. We gathered on another ship where the other salvagers were sleeping on. I splitted up the team in two groups. The one brings on the gear on the right side of the ship and the other on the left so we would have a certain balance.

_"So is everyone ready?"_ I shouted and everyone nodded in return. We jumped into the Cloud Sea and dived deep into it.

* * *

_"Can you see the ship yet?"_ ,asked me Malos with the communicator integrated in the gear I was wearing.

_"No. Are our coordinates correct?"_ I asked.

_"It's exactly below you, so hurry up!"_ he demanded.

A few seconds later a shadow of a big ship, even bigger than the Monoceros could be seen in the distance. I've never seen such architecture.

_"Crew, that must be our Target."_ ,I told everyone, as we put on the gear on the sunken ship.

_"Good job guys."_ ,I waved, as a sign that everything was attached and ready. Then it sort of exploded and they grew to an enormous size, looking like big balloons. After around a minute it reached the surface.

The curiosity grew inside me, because I really would liked to know more about what we were searching for.

_"Fuck it."_ ,I spoke to myself as I gave up, locking this feeling away. I dived up to where the ship appeared on the cloud sea and searched for another entry.

_"Hey Julien, where are you going?"_ ,a fellow salvager asked me. He caught up and looked at me with a worried expression.

_"I... think I saw something interesting."_ ,I said. I needed to lie, otherwise he could have told Malos and the others.

_"Ok I hope you know what you're doing."_ ,he simply answered, as he swam back to the others.

_"I always do." _,I spoke to myself.

Shortly after that, I could see a door leading inside, about 10 meters above sea level.

_"Finally this thing comes in handy."_ ,I spoke to myself as I prepared the hook that was part of my salvager gear. I just needed to aim a bit aaand...

_"Yes!"_ ,I yelled as I pulled myself up to the door. As I reached it and opened it, I could hear Malos, Nia and Jin fighting another creature, so I decided to go the other way deeper inside the ship. I just needed to be extra careful.

* * *

About 5 minutes later, I got to a big energy field that was blocking my way. I tried to get past it, but when I reached the surface of the field, it felt like I touched an hot oven.

I decided to look around for a bit.

_"All that technology... I have nothing seen something quite like it..."_ ,I whispered to myself, as I was examining the machines until I reached the energy field again. I spotted a little symbol next to it.

_"What if I..."_ ,I tried to touch it and it began to shine in a bright green light.

_"Maybe now I can get past it safely..."_ I made a step towards the field and tried to get inside it again. I was expecting more burns or pain but... everything seemed fine. I walked through the long passage, as I was examining the walls. At the end was a switch, which I pulled to deactivate the field. _Not that its going to burn me when I'm trying to get out,_ I thought to myself.

I have reached a big hall, with the same machines as before, but something was different... There was one big machine in the middle of the hall and... there was someone inside! I took a step closer to where the person was sort of captured.

_"A girl...? Why?"_ ,I asked myself as my heart raced, because of the tension around me. She was so beautiful that no words could describe her. She had an emerald crystal on her chest and fire-red hair. It seemed like she was sleeping or I hoped so at least. Then I noticed the red sword, sticking into the ground right in front of her. My hands began to shake, as I moved them towards it. Then... I just touched it out of curiosity. Blurry pictures began running through my mind, strong headache was the consequence. Then suddenly I heard footsteps behind me, but I had no control of my body as I held the sword.

_"Stay away you little brat!"_ ,shouted a familiar voice, but before I could answer I felt a strong pain in my chest. I slowly looked down to see what caused it...

_"You should have stayed out of it! Well at least you won't be alive to see what's coming. See it as an act of mercy."_ ,said Jin in a cold tone, while his sword was piercing through my chest, blood dripping on the floor.

_"I..."_ ,I tried to say something, but my body began to grow numb. I could still feel his sword pulling out of me, as I tumbled on the floor before the world around me slowly faded away.

* * *

(1131)


	3. Chapter 2: Linked

Chapter 2: Linked

* * *

_Was that really happening...?_

_Why am I always kicked around and dumped by everyone?_

_Why do I feel... relaxed all of the sudden?_ I could feel something tingling my body while a slow wind was blowing through my hair. I... just enjoyed that moment for a bit.

_"Is that what heaven feels like?"_ ,I asked myself. Then I heard a sound like from a church bell. I slowly opened my eyes to look where it came from, but what I saw left me absolutely speechless.

A scenery like it was taken out of a fairy tale, a big green field, a village in the distance and a church right next to it. It was truly breathtaking.

Then my gaze wandered to the left, towards a big tree. But what I saw underneath it, surprised me.

The girl from before, the one that was laying inside in this maschine, stood there without moving, looking towards the church.

_"How... where..."_ ,I whispered to myself as I approached her. I tried to think about what to ask her or how to approach her at all. I wasn't good with strangers after all... But before I could answer...

_"It's such a mournful sound. It never stopped, in all these years..."_ ,she said with a calm tone in her voice.

_"You mean that bell sound?"_ ,I asked. I tried to stay calm before asking, "But... where are we?"

_"This... is Elysium. This was the place where mankind lived in piece with their creator. Its the place... We were born..."_ ,she explained still without facing me. _She was born here? And who does she mean with "creator"._ But I had another important question in mind. I was now standing right next to her. She simply looked at me with a smile. I was distracted by her shining green crystal on her chest.

_"Is that a crystal?"_ ,I asked her, but she didn't gave me an answer.

"My name is Pyra." ,she said with a calm voice and a pure and innocent smile on her face.

_"Right! I forgot to introduce myself! Ehm I'm-"_

_"I know! You're Julien."_ ,she interrupted me. _How does she know my name?_ ,I asked myself while I scratched my neck nervously.

_"How... how did you know my name?"_ ,I gave her a surprised look.

_"Just now as we came into contact."_ She held one hand above her crystal.

_"Just now?"_ ,I took a step back. _I haven't touched her did I?_ Then my mind switched back to what I wanted to ask her in the first place.

_"But... how... did I got here?"_ ,I asked. I needed to know what was going on even through my heart was beating at an insane speed.

"You were... stabbed through the heart by Jin." Her head was now facing the ground. She looked... sad...

_Right I was killed... But that doesn't explain why I'm here now,_ I thought as I holded both of my hands on my heart. I could still feel the pain.

Then Pyra took a step closer to me. My gaze wandered upwards, until I saw her face. She seemed to be troubled with something.

_"Julien... I have a request."_, she was now looking deep into my eyes, _"Can you... take me to Elysium?"_

_Why... Why was she asking me that? She said we are in Elysium right now so..._

_"But isn't that here?"_ ,I asked, while I tried to look away. I was afraid I might be staring.

_"This is merely a memory. An ancient, half forgotten memory of what once was. The real Elysium lies in your world on top of the world tree."_ ,she answered without moving an inch.

_In your world,_ I repeated to myself.

_World tree? My world...? But which world...? I'm feeling so lost... Even here I was betrayed and kicked around..._ I thought as a single tear rolled down my cheek while I faced the ground. Then a light showed far of in the distance telling me not to give up...

_She... needs my help. I can't just give up now. I don't understand what is going on, but maybe now I can finally do something with my life and-_ Then I remembered, I was killed. There is no way in helping her.

_"I can give you half of my life force."_ ,I heard her explaining while pointing on her crystal. I looked back up again while wiping away the tears on my face.

_"In that way you can be revived... as my driver. The driver of the aegis."_ Driver? Aegis? The more she was saying, the more questions I had but... I tried to overlook them for now.

_"What will you do, Julien?"_ ,she asked my while she looked down on her crystal. _Yeah what will I do... Am I ready to risk to endure even more pain to simply have a purpose in my life or... do I give up..._

I looked up in the sky. I could hear the wind blowing through the tree and birds chirping in the distance.

_What would my family want me to do? I still don't know if this is all just a stupid dream or not... But they would'nt want me to give up. They all would want me to help her._

_"Julien?"_ ,she asked, taking me out of my thoughts. She was waiting for an answer.

I was still facing the ground as I took a deep breath and answered, _"Yes. Yes I will help you. No matter what will happen, I will help you to reach Elysium."_ A feeling of determination was filling me. A feeling I have never felt before.

Before she could say something I interrupted her, _"I want to do something that could change the world, change it to something better and if it means you are going to be happy when you are back here then..."_ ,I looked back up, facing her, _"Then I would be glad to help you. No matter the cost. No matter how long it will take!"_ ,I finally got to smile again.

She looked quite surprised after my little speech before taking her hands in front of her mouth, forcing back tears. A feeling of guilt hitted me. I took a step towards her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

_"No no I didn't wanted to make you cry! I am so sorry!"_ ,I tried to apologise. Then suddenly my heart felt like it stopped for a second as Pyra embraced me. She felt so warm and soft... It somehow calmed me down a bit.

After a second she abruptly took a step back again. She had a slight blush on her face and looked quite embarrassed.

Then after she took a deep breath, she pointed on her shining emerald crystal again.

_"Now place your hand on my chest."_ ,she said with her calm voice. _On her chest?_, I thought while I felt my cheeks blushing. She held her hands around her crystal.

I took a step closer and observed it. It felt like it was... pulsating... just like a heart. But there is no going back now. I've made a promise to her and to fulfill it, I needed to be her driver... Even through I still do not know what that means. I desperately tried to calm myself down.

I slowly reached out for her with two fingers. I felt like I should have passed out every moment, but then I finally touched it.

An immense power started flowing through me. I felt like I was being burned from the inside, but I wasn't able to scream. I just watched green light emitting from her crystal, while she was closing her eyes. The tension and power in my body grew stronger and stronger until a loud noise caused the illusion to fade away.

* * *

(1322)


	4. Chapter 3: Escape

Chapter 3: Escape

* * *

The feeling of being overrun by that mysterious power slowly faded away, as I started to get cold. I could still feel the pain in my chest after I started breathing. A big explosion in the distance caused me to jump up.

A warm feeling started going from my chest into my right arm and something seemed to materialize in it. It... it was the sword from earlier, but why... I looked back to where the sword was originally stuck in the ground, but I could only see red shards scattered everywhere.

"They must have destroyed it but... why?" I asked myself, as I noticed that Pyra was missing. I could feel some sort of anger rising inside of me.

"First they kill me and then they going to take her away? I don't care why they need her, but it can't be a good reason!" My left hand balled up into a fist. I needed to protect her! I started running back to where I came from.

As I approached the entrance of the ship I could see that maschine she was laying in, was burning. What did they... I thought till I saw that Pyra was standing right in front of it, facing Malos, Jin and Nia.

"Pyra!" I shouted, "Is everything alright?" I needed to know if they did anything to her.

"Yes I'm alright." She simply answered without moving away her gaze from the trio.

"You and that sword... CAN'T BE!" ,Malos should furiously.

"I'm going to get my revenge... after you all stabbed me in the back!" My mind and body went into auto-pilot. Everything I said and did now happend out of instinct.

"Pyra are you ready?" I saw that she was waiting for me to move.

"Yes! And don't worry, I will help you as good as I can!" ,she answered, as I stormed towards the psychopaths.

Malos took a few steps towards me, "Jin, leave them to me." He nodded and walked away.

Right before I could have hitted Malos with my sword, he blocked it with his own weapon. I felt how Pyra must have adjusted my movements a bit.

As we stared each other deep into eyes eyes full with hatred he stated, "I'm sorry kid, but I can't let the likes of you just claim her power for yourself!" He pushed me back, but I was able to keep my balance.

"This is as far as it goes!" He stood there like he knew he would win. My anger grew stronger and stronger so I attacked him furiously. Suddenly I heard a voice calling out for us.

"Stop it Malos! Don't you see he is just a child?" Nia tried to intervene into our fight. But words won't settle anything here, I thought as I tried to slash him with growing speed.

"A child?" He asked while he blocked my attacks, "Don't make me laugh." He pushed me back again, his blade missing me only by an inch.

"He made himself THE AEGIS'S DRIVER!" he roared as he stormed towards me again. Our fight continued without further interruption. As my anger rose I became too careless and Malos was able to kick me away. A creature jumped over him grabbing his weapon and throwing some sort of energy-slash at me. I wasn't able to get up in time and prepared myself for the pain that would be coming but...

"Are you alright?" Pyra asked while blocking the attack of Malos' creature. She stretched out an hand to help me up and I gladly accepted with a faint smile on my face.

"Thank you Pyra." I thanked her before focusing back to Malos.

"Now don't give up!" she shouted as we both stormed forward. The creature was throwing its beams again while we were running, but Pyra blocked them all right in front of me.

Right before I attacked Malos, I saw that my fellow salvagers were just standing around 20 meters away from us in disbelief.

"Go! Now quick!" I screamed at them while I tried to attack Malos, but he was dodging all my attacks. Meanwhile the creature threw his sword back at him. He was trying to destroy the bridge connecting the other ship, the other salvagers were on all the time. Suddenly I could feel heat rising inside my right hand again. I looked back at Pyra who stretched out both her hands at me, giving me a nod. I swung my sword and formed a fire-slash, but right before it hitted him, he blocked it. Dust was flying up into the air. I could feel a hand touching my shoulder. The other one was touching my right hand on the sword. It was Pyra standing right next to me.

"Julien... Jump up and aim directly for Malos. Please trust me." Pyra said and without hesitation I jumped and put all my strength into this blow. Heat began to rise in my body while she loaded up the sword for the attack she was planning.

"BURNING SWORD!" we both shouted in unison. The sword hitted Malos, followed by a big explosion. After the dust settled we realised that Malos did even block this attack with his sword.

"How can a nobody like you..." he started, his grin he usually had completely gone, "Ah but with those eyes... I guess I should've been more wary from the start."

My anger took me over as I watched him, looking towards me like I'm nothing but some useless kid. I strengthend my grip around the sword and pushed harder. The flames turned dark-red, as I broke through his defense and knocked him over to the side.

"What the..." He shouted as he managed to keep his balance around 30 meters away from me. Me and Pyra went back to the ground, as I prepared myself for the next attack.

"Don't get cocky you LITTLE SHIT!" he screamed while he swung his sword wildly at me. I blocked his blowes, still guided by Pyra or at least it felt like it, but then he got through my attacks with his other hand hitting me deep into my guts. I loosend my grip because of the pain and as he threw me away, my sword slipped out of hand.

"Shit..." I whispered as I tried to get up. Malos was rushing at me again, but my sword and Pyra were out if reach.

I need to evade his next attack or I'm done, I thought as I tried to get on my foot but the last blow still hurted and legs didn't move. But right in that moment Nia and Dromarch jumped in front of me and attacked Malos with a water attack, causing him to get a few meters away from me.

"Get out of the way Nia! Have you gone mad?" He seemed to scream at her, but I wasn't able to see anything. Dromarch was blocking my view.

"You're the one who's off your nut, waling-on a child!" she shouted back at him. Was she protecting me?, I thought as I finally got back up. Pyra also reached me and handed me my sword. That was a fight I wasn't able to win, so we need to escape somehow, I thought to myself. Then it hitted me. When Nia and me would attack at the same time it should create heavy fog all over the ship. We should have a few seconds to hide and think of a way to escape.

"Nia!" I whispered, "Attack him!"

"You have a plan?" she whispered back at me, without looking away from Malos.

"Sort of, and now go!" She instantly stormed towards him. Right before the water hitted him, I created a fire-slash which evaporated it.

I grabbed Nia and Pyra and showed them where they need to run off to. It was the the little corridor with the door I entered the ship through.

"Dromarch lets go!" Nia whispered, as we tried to move as fast and as quietly as possible. After a few seconds we were able to reach it and close the door behind us.

Everyone was now facing me. Try to think of ways to escape this place, I thought hitting my head with my left hand.

"I think we could..." I started but Nia interrupted me.

"We should take the escape capsules on the Monoceros." she said frantically.

"Wait I never heard of them. Where exactly are they?" I asked confused.

"Hidden. Not everyone should find them. Now go! We have to hurry!"

"I will be blocking his attacks!" Pyra suddenly called out, "You three have to keep moving. We need to get past by him to reach the ship."

"But..." my heart seemed to stop, "You will come too!" There is no way I will be leaving without her!

"Yes of course." She simply smiled at me. No sign of hurt or sadness, only a pure innocent smile. I simply trusted her and so I gave her the sword.

Then we got ready to barge back to where Malos was waiting for us. With one move I opened the door and jumped out. Malos was standing calmly right next to a wall.

"Playing hide n' seek now? How annoying..." He instantly charged back at us, but Pyra jumped in front of me and blocked him.

"Go!" ,she shouted as Nia, Dromarch and me headed for the Monoceros. I could hear how both swords clashed onto each other countless times as we reached the ship.

"Pyra!" ,I shouted while I turned back to see her fight between her and Malos. How quickly she moved... She simply avoided all of his attacks.

"You're pretty sharp for someone who's only woken up!" ,I heard Malos shout at her, "Takes me back to 500 years!"

500 years? What the hell is he talking about? I thought while watching their fight speechlessly. I could hear Malos talking to hear more while they've fought, but I couldn't understand it anymore.

Suddenly I could feel the ship moving below my feet. What was happening now, I thought.

"This is our dream!" ,Pyra suddenly shouted, as she pushed him back to create some distance between them. She then ran as fast as she could towards me and jumped into the ship giving me the sword back while doing so. I followed, as I closed the door behind me.

"This should give us a minute." Nia shouted, pointing towards a little corridor that was hidden behind a maschine. We followed her until be reached a big room with a sorts of levers and switches which seem to control the three escape capsules. Nia tipped something on one of the computer-like machines and one of the escape capsules opened.

"Already want to leave you little traitor?" ,asked an unknown person, standing from where we came from.

"Akhos!" said Nia shocked. Did she know him and why didn't I see him earlier?, I thought.

"I can't let you leave." He said while he drew a little sword. Nia got ready to fight while rage filled my heart again. This time I will not hold back! Dark-red flames began to emit from my sword.

"What?", Akhos said right before an enormous slash pushed him back sending him backwards. Everyone looked at me shocked, while I turned around.

"C'mon we need to go!" ,I said pushing everyone inside the capsule and hitting a red button with the word "eject" on it.

"Jin, they are that way!" ,I could hear Akhos yell, but the door was already fully closed.

The capsule separated from the ship and then it began to move at mediocre speed.

"We made it!" ,I shouted while looking to the others. Nia just smiled while leaning back into her seat while Pyra looked like she tried to think about something. The adrenalin rush slowly ended as I started to fell pain in my right hand.

"Arghh..." ,I cried while holding the hand with the other one.

"Julien!" ,Pyra shouted while examining the hand. Then Nia stood up.

"I don't want to ruin the mood any further but", she looked towards the control unit, "Does somebody know how to drive that thing?"

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(2078)


	5. Chapter 4: Trust

Chapter 4: Trust

* * *

_"I don't want to ruin the mood any further but, does somebody know how to drive that thing?"_

_Shit I didn't thought about that_, I thought as I tried to stand up.

_"Julien, please sit down. We need to do something about your wound!", s_he exclaimed.

_"First we need to look how we get to drive that thing. We have a goal remember?"_ ,I tried to smile at her. I started to feel... responsible for her.

_"Yes Julien but..."_ ,she was interrupted by Nia.

_"Please sit down, both of you! Me and Dromarch will think of a way to control that thing. Where do we even need to go to?"_ ,she asked after she pushed me back into the seats again.

_"The... the world tree... We want to reach Elysium!"_ ,I said euphorically.

_"What? You believe that?"_ ,she asked me giving me her typical annoyed look, _"Elysium is a myth kid."_

_"That... that isn't a myth. Pyra told me she was born there. That proves it for me."_ ,I said determined.

_"It is. What if Pyra is just lying? What if just turns around and stabs you in the back someday?"_ ,she asked.

_What... if she betrays me... good question... I was always betrayed back then even in this world... Why should that change now all of the sudden?_ I thought. Then I just shook by head. _No it's something else with her. She is the first person... I can really trust... thats just a feeling I have..._ I looked at Nia seriously.

_"You don't really counted how often I was kicked around in my life until now."_ I took a deep breath, _"I also need to admit, I'm afraid, afraid of what will come next. On the other hand it also gives me strength because I know I can change something for the better even if it means kicking those guys asses. I also feel responsible for her... she have half of her life to safe mine!"_ ,I said looking over to her. She holded her hands above her crystal and smiled.

_"Julien..."_ ,I could swear she blushed a little before she continued, _"I wouldn't betray him or stab him in the back. I don't have a knife."_

Did she just? She did!, I thought while I needed to laugh. Nia also seemed laughed. After a few seconds we calmed down. Pyra looked at us with a confused face.

_"Well I guess you need to be right then."_ ,she said while looking over to Dromarch. He already seemed to search for a way to steer that thing.

_"Please push that button there my lady."_ ,he explained looking at a little green switch hidden underneath the control panel. Nia pressed it and a little steering wheel extended out of the control panel.

_"You're a genius Dromarch!"_ ,Nia jumped to him and gave him a hug.

_Right I wanted to ask her why Dromarch could talk, and what these other creatures were or why she helped me in the first place,_ I thought to myself, but right in that moment Pyra shrugged and holded her right arm after she tried to clap her hands.

_"Pyra! Are you hurt?!"_ ,I asked while I examined her arm. The exact same wound that I had was visible.

_"Don't worry, it's just a scratch."_ ,she stated while she tried to force a smile. Nia threw bandages over to us.

_"Here, so you two stop crying."_ ,she laughed.

_"Where did you got them from?"_ ,I asked.

_"I found them just now."_

Yeah right, I thought while I unwinded the bandages and took Pyra's arm.

_"Please hold still for moment. Tell me if I wrap it to tightly."_ ,I said while I concentrated not to hurt her in the process.

After I'm done Pyra asked: _"Could you please give me the bandages for a moment please?"_ Of course I gave them to her but what happened next let my heart race again.

She took my arm and carefully wrapped the bandages around my wound too. After she was done she laid them away and scooted closer to me so that our shoulders touched.

_"Look, they're the same."_ ,she said while she gave me her pure smile I adored so much.

_"I-I guess they are."_ ,I mumbled while I tried to calm myself down. Suddenly Pyra seemed like all the stress from earlier has gotten to her with one punch and she slowly closed her eyes and rested her head on my shoulder.

_Ok ok relax now, breathe in and out, in and out,_ I shouted at myself in my mind. _She needs some rest and this seems to be the most comfortable for her in this tiny thing. I should consider getting some rest too... I was a hard day for all of us._

It seemed to work and after a few minutes I began to drift off myself.

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(832)


	6. Chapter 5: Strength

Chapter 5: Strength

* * *

A familiar atmosphere greeted me. I could hear bird chirping in the distance and everything felt... relaxing and warm. I must be... there again.

_"Hey... Julien."_ I could hear her voice, Pyra's voice. I slowly opened my eyes. I was standing right in front of her beside the big tree from before, while she smiled at me. I'm always seemed to be getting lost in it everytime I see it...

_"Hello Pyra."_ ,I gave her the biggest smile I could form. I never felt so relaxed and... I just couldn't worry about anything right now and I just tried to enjoy it. _But why am I here again?_, I asked myself.

_"Pyra?"_ ,I started, while she seemed to close her eyes. _She must enjoy that peace right now too,_ I thought.

_"Why are we here again?"_ She opened her eyes again. Her smile faded away a bit, while she seemed to think about something.

_"We are connected. Not only as Blade and Driver. We can also visit each others minds when we are in contact for example."_ ,she said, looking deep into my eyes, like she tried to search for something in them. I thought for some seconds that she wanted to continue, but she closed her mouth and swallowed the words.

I noticed that I still didn't knew what it meant to be her driver, so I asked, _"But what... is a Blade or a Driver?"_ She seemed a bit surprised, after she heard my question.

_"You don't know that?"_ She seemed a bit irritated. _I can't tell her the truth..._, I thought while my gaze headed downwards.

_"I... simply can't remember..._" ,I answered without looking at her. It... never felt so hard to lie to somebody...

_"A blade is born out of a core crystal, after resonating with a suitable driver."_ ,she explained, but I still had more questions in return.

_"Suitable? So not everyone can resonate with a... core crystal? What is even a... core crystal?"_

_"Yes. You need to have a certain will and strength to endure the resonance. A core crystal can be compared to a heart. After resonating with a driver, it will take the form that reflects the person the most. A blade also is able to transfer it's power to her or his driver. It's called ether flow. Ether is a energy blades can gather out of the atmosphere. It comes in all kinds of forms, fire, water, lightning..."_ she explained further, but before I could ask her more she pointed at my chest. I could see a X-shaped crystal in the exact same colour as her crystal.

_"But we have a... deeper bond."_ Now she is pointing to her crystal. But... a piece in the shape as mine was missing from her.

_"Is it because... you gave me half of your life force?"_ I could start putting the puzzle pieces together. Then I remembered the wound I had. I can't remember that she got hit by Malos..., _"And... Why were you hurt at the exact same place like me? You didn't get hit."_

_"It's all because of our bond. The X on your chest symbolises that I gave you half of my life and... I also lost my immortality in the process. We share... injuries."_

_We share... wounds? And she lost her immortality because of me? So everytime I got hit, she was feeling pain too?_, those thoughts keep rushing through my mind while I needed to process the fact that I did hurt her in some way.

_"I'm sorry..."_ ,I mumbled too quiet for her to understand.

_"What did you say?"_ ,I pressed my eyes shut.

_"I'm sorry!"_ ,I nearly shouted at her. _"I'm sorry that I was useless in the fight earlier... I never was a big help... for anybody."_ ,I sobbed, while I could sense that she approached me.

_"You are not useless!"_ ,she said loudly while she looked pretty serious at me, _"You fighted pretty good! Malos was just... too strong..."_

_I fighted?_ ,I thought while my hands formed to fists.

_"I didn't fought him! I had no control over my body... You have been helping me..."_

_"Of course I helped, that's my duty as your blade, but you did most moves on your own! I can feel incredible strength inside of you! You just need to learn to control it properly."_ ,she said while her smile returned to her lips.

_She really thinks I'm not useless? But I never fighted in my whole life before..._ Then I remembered the strength I got after wanting to protect her.

Was that the strength she meant? I looked down into my hands. Then I faced her, but she seemed sad all of the sudden.

_"But I also feel a... strong dark side inside of you..."_ ,she seemed sad..., _"Please... never get yourself be consumed by that darkness..."_

I remembered when Malos was making fun of me, giving me the feeling of being useless and weak in the middle of the fight. My rage filled my mind and the flames changed their colour. Was that affecting her too?

_I... I need to stay optimistic... for her... With her help I can do that. She is the first person that ever fully believed in me!,_ I thought, while I looked back up to her again, giving her a smile as I said, _"I promise. I will try to control myself. I hope you'll help me a bit with that."_

I scratched my neck nervously. Suddenly there was some sort of earthquake.

_"What was that?"_ ,I asked in shock. Pyra seemed a bit surprised too.

_"Something must be happening outside! We need to wake up!"_ ,she said while I tried to concentrate on leaving her mind and waking up.

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	7. Chapter 6: Stranded

Chapter 6: Stranded

* * *

Another tremble. I finally managed to wake up. Red flashing lights blinded me, while I tried to stand up, waking Pyra in the process.

_"Wha-What is happening?",_ I shouted, while Nia tried to take the steering wheel.

"I-I don't know! Something is pulling us!" I saw Dromarch standing behind her, desperately trying to help her. Then I heard the sound of cracking glass. Water started shooting inside the capsule.

_"No!"_ ,I screamed ,while I tried to search for something to fix the broken glass, but the crack grew bigger and bigger. I've got an idea, but it seemed quite risky.

_"Pyra! Nia! Dromarch! Hold onto me as tight and strong as you can!"_ I took my sword in my right hand.

_"No you won't to that!"_ ,Nia shouted, while Dromarch still tried to steer that thing somehow with his mouth.

_"Do you have a better idea?"_ ,I asked her, while Pyra already has put her arms around me to my right.

_"Argh. Dromarch hold onto me!"_ She looked stressed but this is the only way. She jumped over to me and put her arms around me on left side.

_"Don't let go!"_ ,I shouted, as I started slashing my sword against the broken window. I wouldn't budge at first, just letting the capsule filling with even more water.

_"C'mon!"_ I slashed into it even harder and after a couple times the glass broke and the water pulled us out at an enormous speed. I could feel Pyra holding onto me even stronger than before, but then I felt that Nia slowly lost her grip. With all my strength I tried holding her in place, but the water just ripped her away with one slash.

_"SHIT!"_ ,I screamed at myself, while trying not to lose Pyra too, throwing my other arm around her. We were pushed around in all directions. The surface only seemed a few meters above us, while I tried opening my eyes. I could feel that my lungs slowly ran out of oxygen, as my strength slowly left me.

I couldn't feel my body anymore. It was screaming for air. It needed all my will not to breathe, as the movement of the water slowly stopped. Suddenly I felt tired and lost my consciousness.

* * *

Everything went dark, no light was to be seen. I felt cold and alone, while I stared of into the distance.

_"Hello?"_ ,I shouted, but nobody answered me. I started to walk without a goal or destination. My mind was completely wiped out. I could feel nothing than loneliness, the feeling I got used to, until I bonded myself... to her. My eyes shot open, as I remembered what just happened.

_"Pyraaa!"_ ,I shouted. _Where was she? Did she manage to hold onto me or are we... dead?_ ,I thought to myself as I spotted a light above me. It grew bigger and bigger and filled my mind with a warm relaxing feeling.

_"Pyra?"_ ,I asked while I tried to reach the light. Soon it filled out the empty space and I was nearly blinded, as I started feeling my arms and legs again. I took a deep breath, after I coughed out some water. I slowly opened my eyes, but my vision still seemed a bit blurry.

_"Oh thank goodness!"_ ,I could hear Pyra say, as everything cleared up. Pyra looked down at me, while my head seemed to rest on her lap. She just smiled at me. _Was that the light which woke me up?_ ,I thought, while I tried to gather some strength. I felt pretty week and I felt strong pain in my back.

_"We seemed like we crashed into a rock before the water drove us on mainland."_ ,she explained. _So that must be why I have this pain, but she seemed like she was in no pain at all, _I thought to myself. I slowly tried to stand up, but I failed in doing so. Pyra carefully placed my head down into the grass and stood up. She gave me her hand and pulled me up, until I stood upright in front of her.

_"Thank you Pyra, for everything!"_ ,I thanked her. _Without her I would have already died twice today. I need to repay her someday somehow,_ I thought to myself as I looked around.

_"Do you know where we are Pyra?"_ ,I asked her, because I still had absolutely no clue about this world.

_"We seem to be on the Titan Gormott."_ ,she answered.

_"A titan?"_ ,I asked, and again she looked pretty confused like last time when I asked her about Blades and Drivers.

_"Ehm a titan is also a living being. Some are so big that they form continents. Some others are used for ships and transportation."_ ,she took a deep breath, _"And for war."_

_This world is just so different from mine..._ I thought, while I remembered who was missing.

_"Oh my god Nia!"_ ,I shouted, as I ran down the first path I could see. With no real clue I started looking for her, while Pyra tried to follow me.

Hours passed and soon the sun was setting. We needed some place to stay for the night.

_"Pyra, we should call it a day."_ ,I said, disappointed in myself. _What if they just died because of my foolishness?_, I shook my head, _No there was no other way. We all would have drowned._

Me and Pyra started gathering some firewood, while we also prepared a simple tent out of leaves and sticks. Pyra used her Fire-Power to enlighten the wood so we wouldn't freeze. It's not that cold, but I couldn't wear the salvagers cloths when I'm sleeping and I just got some short trousers and a t-shirt.

After nearly an hour of work, me and Pyra tried to sleep. I was laying on my back, while listening to the wind and the sound of the rustling leafs. Right when I closed my eyes I heard splashing and soon I felt that the fire went out.

_And now it must be raining,_ I grumbled to myself. I tried to sleep nevertheless, but I immediately started freezing. My hands began to shake uncontrollably. _How am I supposed to sleep like that?_

I started hearing some rattling beside me. _Did Nia found us?_ ,I hoped. The sound became louder and louder until a hand touched my shaking arm.

_Pyra?,_ I thought, as she also laid her head on my chest. A warm feeling spreaded across my mind. I could feel that my heart was beating faster and faster with each second.

Pyra tried to warm me up... she is a Fire-Blade after all. I never was so happy and grateful ever in my life. She seemed to have accepted me for who I am and tried to help me wherever she could. But did she do that just because she was my blade? That question was hurting me a bit, so I tried not to think about it any further.

Her warmth was so soothing... I decided to lay my arms around her, to show her that I was thankful for what she did. I slowly drifted into sleep, while we were snuggled tightly onto each other.

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	8. Chapter 7: Friendship

Chapter 7: Friendship

* * *

Sun was shining onto my face, while I slowly woke up. Pyra was still sleeping and still cuddled with me. I didn't seem to have met her in her mind this night.

A few leaves moved out of the way and the sunlight now also shined down on her. My heart started to beat faster than ever before. She looked so perfect and cute while she was sleeping. She smiled innocently and seemed like she was content with the situation. Suddenly I felt a tingling feeling inside my stomach.

_What is that feeling? I never felt like that before..._, I thought while I holded her even more tightly in my arms.

Then I heard some cracking behind me, but I tried ignored it. I just wanted to be close to her right now.

_"I just leave for a day and then you two are cuddlin' all night through."_ ,I recognized that voice. Nia!

_"My lady, Julien may have just been freezing. It was raining."_ I could hear Dromarch say.

_Thank god they are ok!_, I thought to myself, while I slowly turned towards them.

_"Oh did I wake you?"_ she asked, sarcastically.

_"Nah don't worry."_ ,I answered while turning over to Pyra again who slowly woke up, without letting go of me. She slowly opened her eyes and after she seemed to realize where she was she jumped, her face turned red like a tomato.

_"I-I'm sorry! I-I saw you freezing and I just-"_ ,she was interrupted by a light embrace.

_"I didn't mind. I think I should thank you for keeping me warm."_ ,I could still feel my heart pounding against my chest while I told her that, but I slowly seemed to get used to have her close to me.

She was taken by surprise but after a few seconds she put her arms around me too and laid her head on my shoulder.

_I bet she has more on her mind than she is telling me... sort of like me_, I thought._ I could feel her sadness. Is it because of the bond?_ Suddenly I heard coughing behind me.

_"I really don't want to interrupt but we should get going if we want to reach Torigoth today."_ Nia said, while she was waiting for an answer impatiently.

Pyra and me stopped embracing each other, while I put on my salvager gear again, mainly because of the hook and the protection in battle. _This thing could come in handy again_, I thought.

We started walking down some paths without really talking much to each other. I remembered a few questions that I had and tried to break the silence with them.

_"Nia?"_ ,I started without getting any reaction from her, _"Why did you helped me back then?"_

She didn't answered right away. Instead she looked on the ground thinking about something.

_"I... saw Jin killing you. And after Malos even said that I should kill everyone else I just knew I had to do something. Luckily you came by to stop them and save the others."_ ,she explained. Right before I wanted to say something she resumed, _"From the start I just felt like you are different, better in many ways."_

That surprised me a little. I didn't thought she would think of me that way.

_"Out of words? Haha!"_ ,she laughed while facing up again.

_"I just know that's never going to be boring with you two."_ She gave me and Pyra a smile. I could feel a friendship starting to bind all of us together. Then I looked over to Dromarch and remembered what Pyra told me while we met in her mind.

_"So... Dromarch is your blade?"_ ,I asked. She turned over to me, watching me like she would have liked to say: Of course you Dumbass!

_"Well yeah."_ ,she turned over, while she seemed like she thought about something again, but I decided that this were enough personal questions for one day.

After a few hours we followed Nia up a small hill.

_"C'mon guys, this view here is breathtaking!"_ ,she shouted, while I was slowly running out of air. After a minute I also reached the top.

The view was really absolutely breathtaking. A big open field, with a few animals walking and searching for food, a town to the right that seemed like a nice small place to stay and to the left a gigantic head. This needed to be the Titans head Pyra spoke about earlier.

_So we really are on a living being..._ I thought while we resumed our way to Torigoth.

As we approached the city, Nia seemed a bit nervous, while Pyra simply examined everything on the way. The first people, which also seemed to have cat ears, and houses could be seen as we walked through the streets. _This must be her home-town, right?_ ,I asked myself until I spotted a quite interesting picture on a blackboard. A wanted poster, searching for someone with the name... Nia? _But that looks like a mixture of Dromarch and her,_ I thought while I pointed towards it.

_"What the bloody hell? Is that supposed to be me?"_ ,she seemed quite offended.

_"A remarkable likeness to say the least."_ I turned over to see Dromarch standing right next to her, getting some angry stares because of his comment. Me and Pyra needed to chuckle a bit.

In that moment I just realized something. I started to hope that this is my new real life from now on even more.

I don't want to go back ever again. Here I have friends, here I have the power to defend myself and the things that matter to me. I... I will never lose someone dear to me ever again. I will make sure of that!

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	9. Chapter 8: Awkwardness

**AN: Ive uploaded Chapter 7 and 8 today because Im behind my upload-plan**

* * *

Chapter 8: Awkwardness

* * *

_"We can rest here for the night."_ ,Nia said, while pointing towards a local inn in Torigoth, looking at me like she was begging for something. I knew what she wanted.

_"And I'll pay right?"_, I asked, looking for how much gold I had. It was the gold I've earned while salvaging. Luckily I forgot to put it out of my pocket when I changed my clothes back on the Monoceros, while I prepared to dive into cloud sea.

_"I still have around 5000 gold on me. I hope this will be enough until we have a plan on what to do next."_ ,I stated while we walked inside the Inn. We were greeted by the receptionist.

_"Hello, what can I do for you?"_ ,she asked, her arms crossed behind her back.

_"We would like to have..."_ ,I started, before turning over to Nia and Dromarch.

_"Psst, would you like to have a seperate room? It would cost nearly as much as one big room each night."_ ,I whispered.

_"A separate. We don't want to disturb you two."_ ,she said, while having an evil grin on her face. She did not even tried to be quiet. I slowly turned towards the receptionist again, while I tried to hide my blush on my face. She already held two keys, one in each of her hands.

"This one's for you and your companion. Room four the second door on the right." ,she handed over the key to Nia, while I laid down the gold I needed to pay on the counter. Then she turned her face to me and Pyra, _"And this one is for room six one door further, for you and your girlfriend."_

_What-What did she just say?_, I thought while I stared at her, unable to move out of embarrassment and a fast beating heart.

_"It-It's not like that!"_ ,I suddenly heard Pyra calling out, as she took my hand and dragged me to our room.

After she closed and locked the door behind us, I looked at her. She had a huge dark-red blush on her face which she tried to hide with both hands. After a few seconds she took a deep breath and looked up to me.

_"Let's just try to forget what just happened. We really could use some rest."_ ,she said while she prepared her bed. I decided to go and look for Nia and talk to her for a moment.

I took the key, unlocked the door and knocked on her door, before entering the room.

_"Oh Julien. What's the matter?"_ ,Nia asked, while making herself comfortable on her bed. Dromarch was already resting on the floor.

_"Just trying to forget what just happened."_ ,I said while I smiled forcefully.

_"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't thought the receptionist would react like that."_ ,she apologized. This was the first apology from her that didn't felt like a lie.

_"Apology accepted. I'm just worried about Pyra."_ ,I felt like I could talk seriously with her right now.

_"Well I can think of a reason she behaves like that."_ ,Nia gave me her evil grin again. So much for trying to talk to her seriously.

_"I won't tell you."_ ,she simply threw at me. I won't get an answer out of her today, I thought as I turned around and wished Nia and Dromarch a good night.

_She has a different reason?_, I thought before opening the door to my room. Pyra may be sleeping already, so I should be able to sneak in and give this all some thought when I'll be sleeping.

I slowly got inside the room. Pyra already laid in her bed. Her blanket laid on the shelf untouched. _Right, she doesn't need it_, I thought while my gaze turned upwards to her face again. After some seconds I noticed that I was staring again. I instantly looked away from her and took of my salvager clothing. I forgot to stay quiet and so I heard Pyra moving.

_"Julien...?"_ ,she asked in a sleepy voice. She didn't even tried to open her eyes.

_"Yes Pyra. I'm sorry for waking you. Please get back to sleep."_ ,I felt guilty for interrupting her sleep, as I slowly got into my bed too. After I noticed that my stomach was tingling again, I was hitting against it lightly with my right hand.

_What the hell is this? Am I getting ill?_, I thought as tiredness overwhelmed me and put me to sleep.

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	10. Chapter 9: Hunted

Chapter 9: Hunted

* * *

_"We need to get going! Now!"_, I could hear Nia shout, while I jumped off my bed out of surprise.

_"Wha-What happened?"_ ,I asked, while I was still a bit drowsy.

_"There is no time! I will tell you later!"_ ,she said while she ran out of room.

_"What is going on Julien?"_ ,Pyra asked, while she rubbed her eyes.

_"I don't know. Nia said that she will tell us later. We need to get going now."_

We both got ready as fast as we could. After we left the Inn we searched for Nia, but she was nowhere to be seen.

_"Nia!"_ ,I shouted, while we walked down the road.

_"Nia, Dromarch!"_ ,Pyra shouted too as someone grabbed us and dragged us inside a small alley.

_"Wha-"_ A hand covered my mouth. As I looked to the right I could see Nia and Dromarch. They seemed to hide from something.

_"Don't shout out my name like that you idiots!"_, she grunted at me. She slowly took her hand away.

_"Yeah but why?"_ ,I asked her confused.

_"The ardainian soldier's are looking for us."_ ,she answered while she looked around the corner to see if everything was clear. Then she turned around and sighed, _"Remember the posters? We are wanted terrorists and somehow they know that we are here in Torigoth."_

_"What?"_ ,I shouted surprised.

_"Keep your voice down. The guys we worked with are well known as the terrorist group Torna._" We slowly walked out of the alley.

_"Torna? But there wasn't a wanted picture with my face on it."_

_"But you were our best salvager and the chance is high that they are searching for you too."_ _So we need to run from Malos and co. and a whole army, nice_, I thought while turning my gaze over to Pyra.

_"But how are we going to get to the world tree now?"_ ,I asked her. I forgot to make a plan yesterday.

"We could have taken a boat but-" ,Dromarch was interrupted.

_"Every boat seems to be under control of the ardainian government. I saw no boats entering and leaving the harbour. I just heard that a big ardainian warship is coming this way. We won't get out of here until they all leave Gormott."_ Nia told us.

_"But than we only need to wait a bit!"_ ,I said hopefully.

_"That will never happen. Gormott is an ardainian province, because the Titan of Mor Ardain is slowly dying."_ ,and again my hope was crushed.

_Wait a titan can die?_ ,I thought as I gave Pyra a confused look.

_"Titans only have a certain lifetime, like every other creature."_ ,she answered my question.

_"Wait! That means one day there will be no living space anymore."_ ,I realized.

_"This causes a lot of wars."_ ,Nia simply answered before someone shouted at us.

_"I found the terrorists! Get em!"_ ,a soldier screamed, while he stormed at us.

_"Run! Now!"_ ,Nia shouted as we all started running away from the soldiers that were following us, but with every second they closed the gap between us.

_I need to think about something!_, I shouted at myself as I saw two big crates standing on a construction site. I used my hook to smash them both on the road to slow them down.

After another minute of running, we seemed to got away from them. I hitted a wall with my right hand, which I formed into a fist.

_"Dammit! How are we supposed to get somewhere that way?"_ ,I shouted in an angry tone.

_"Please calm down Julien. We will think of something."_ Pyra tried to calm me down while she showed me her warm smile. _It won't help, anyone when I'm raging around like that_, I thought, as I leaned against the wall.

_"Finally some time to-"_ Suddenly Nia and Dromarch were catched inside a net. Me and Pyra jumped up in surprise and got ready for a fight.

"A net like this isn't going to stop us!" ,Nia said furiously, while trying to cut through the mashes, but it didn't seem to work.

_"My lady. I can't transfer ether to you."_ Dromarch stated. He looked weakend. Me and Pyra took a few steps forward to remove the net, but we were attacked by blue flames, which Pyra managed to block right on time.

_"Who is there!?"_ ,I shouted, as I felt rage growing inside me again. A woman stepped through the flames. _She has two swords and purple... burning hair? She is definitely not human. Is she a blade?_ ,I thought to myself, as she stopped moving.

_"It's Brighid, the Jewel of Mor Ardain!"_ ,Dromarch said surprised.

_"Brighid?"_ ,I asked.

_"She is the blade of Inquisitor Morag Ladair of Mor Ardain. She is by far the strongest blade of the ardainian Empire."_ ,he explained to me.

_Wait doesn't a blade need a driver to fight?_ ,I thought while she threw her blue fire towards us, which Pyra blocked again causing us to move a few steps backwards.

_"Run away Julien!"_ Nia suddenly shouted at me with a serious tone in her voice.

_"No I will not leave you here!"_ ,I screamed. _No I will not leave someone behind. Not again!_

I stormed towards Brighid and tried to hit her with a fire-slash, but she dodged it with ease and kicked me into my stomach, sending me back to where I've stood.

_"We just want her. Leave right now or I will hunt you down for helping a terrorist."_ ,she said while Pyra grabbed my shoulder.

_"We need to leave. We will think of something later."_ Pyra whispered. _She was right. Without a plan I would only cause her to be injured._

_"Wait an emerald core crystal?"_ ,Brighid suddenly asked, but Pyra was already dragging me away.

I looked back to her to see if she is following us, before we vanished around the corner.

We ran as far as we could before we stopped at a fence. I looked down to see the cloud sea 20 meters below us.

_Well I should try not to fall down here,_ I thought as I heard multiple persons shouting.

_"There they are!"_ Three soldiers spotted us and were coming our way. _That blade must have informed the army about our escape,_ I thought as we started running again, before we could really rest.

We kept running and hiding for hours, as my whole body slowly began to hurt. We decided to finally rest a bit, as we reached a secluded part of the city.

_"I can't run any further Pyra..."_ ,I told her exhausted, _"What are we supposed to do..."_

_"I... I don't know... We should-"_ ,Pyra answered desperately before being interrupted.

_"They have gone that way!"_ ,I heard soldiers calling out for us.

_"Ah shit... here we go again..."_ ,I mumbled, as a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me backwards.

* * *

(1169)


	11. Chapter 10: Tora

Chapter 10: Tora

* * *

_"What the-!"_ ,I shouted before I spotted a weird looking creature.

_"Please, Tora just wants to help."_ ,he threw up his arms in surprise. I might been looking at him a bit angry. Then I just looked at him.

_Has he wings on his neck? Does he even have a neck? But he has cool hair,_ I thought.

_"Eh, why are you staring at Tora like that?"_ ,he suddenly asked. I jumped up in surprise.

_"Oh ehm I'm sorry. I'm just eh... tired from all the running."_ ,I lied and it seemed he didn't believed me, _"Oh I forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Julien and this is Pyra. Thanks for saving us, but why did you help us?"_

Pyra waved at him friendly while saying,_ "It's so lovely to meet you."_ Meanwhile I could swear I heard footsteps coming and fading away.

_"No reason."_ ,he simply answered.

_"No reason?"_ _Why should he just help some strangers that are wanted by a whole army?_, I asked myself.

_"Well... That's not fully true. Tora also don't like these big bully soldiers. Saw Pyra and J-J running from them so I-"_ ,I interrupted him.

_"J-J? My name is Julien."_ ,I tried to explain.

_"What' the point?"_ he just a answered.

_"I think this nickname sounds lovely."_ Pyra said while holding her hands over her core crystal. _Well thank you for falling onto my back,_ I thought while I scratched my neck.

_"Ehm Tora also had another reason for saving you."_ ,he then said while walking downwards a little corridor, _"I will explain everything when get to house of Tora."_

I looked at Pyra who nodded at me with a smile and so we followed him.

* * *

As Tora opened another door after a minute, _"This is just the back door, front entrance over there."_

As i gazed to the right I could see the cloud sea below us. The view was truly breathtaking.

_"Nice view eh? Tora just likes to sit and watch Cloud Sea sometimes."_ ,he said while he and Pyra entered his home.

_I would do the same when I would live here,_ I thought while I catched up to Tora and closed the door behind me.

His home seemed rather small, but it felt kinda comfy. It's like staying in a little wooden house in the Alps.

_"You have a wonderful home Tora."_ ,Pyra told him.

_"I think so too!"_ ,I replied.

_"Great!"_ ,he made a little pause, while he turned over to me, _"Anyway J-J... Tora explain other reason I help you."_

_I will never get used to that nickname but I will let it slide for now,_ I thought.

_"You see... Tora always wanted to make Driver friends."_ I was quite surprised about what he just said. _Was he also feeling lonely? Maybe we have more in common than I thought we would. I feel like I need to lighten up the mood a bit_, I thought while I made a worried face.

_"Oh! Interested in Driver's, are you?"_ ,I asked him while I tried to make a smile.

_"Of course! Tora find it amazing how Blade and Driver join spirits together to make big powers!"_ he said cheerfully before continuing, _"Tora really wants to be sidekick of J-J!"_

_"Sidekick? I'm not sure if I earned the respect to have a sidekick yet..."_ ,I said while scratching my neck again.

_"Well what if instead of all this sidekick stuff, we will just be friends?"_ ,I said while I stretched one hand out for him. He seemed like a nice guy to me. _I never met anyone nice in the old world but here I already made four friends. I just hope-_ ,I was put out of thought.

_"R-Really?"_ Tora said, while I could see his gratefulness in his eyes, _"Tora will be friend of J-J? Hooray!"_ He jumped happily through his home.

_"What a funny little guy."_ ,I said while I turned over to Pyra who nodded in return. Then I remembered what we have to do next.

_"Hey Tora. Do you know much about this town?"_ ,I asked him, while I looked at him a bit more serious.

_"Huh?"_ ,Tora didn't seem to understand, what I wanted to know.

_"You wouldn't happen to know where the army takes prisoners, would you?"_ ,I asked a bit more specifically.

_"Julien are you already planning to-"_ ,Pyra started, before I interrupted her.

_"We have to save Nia and Dromarch! I owe em!"_ ,I said determined.

_"Oh you talk about Driver and Blade, who were with J-J before you got here?"_ Tora asked suddenly.

_"Wait you saw us?"_ ,_Was he watching us on purpose?_

_"I saw you four getting to town. Little woman seemed angry because of poster."_ ,Tora explained.

_"Well yeah I mean them."_ I hope he now knows who I meant.

_"Meh-Meh... Tora would have to ask around town for info like that."_ ,he said, while holding one of his wings on his chin while thinking, _"But before we do anything, time for food!"_

As I heard the word food why stomach began to growl pretty loudly. Pyra seemed to notice it, while she chuckled a bit.

_"All of today's running make Tora hungry. Need food to help J-J."_ ,he stated while I holded my belly.

_"I think I won't get far without food too."_ ,I mumbled. I won't be able to save them with my winzend stomach.

_"Um, if it's all right with everyone I could cook something!"_ ,Pyra said while she stepped between me and Tora.

_"Pyra I didn't know you could cook!"_ ,I told her a bit surprised.

_"Well, well as fire is involved, I can almost anything! Fry, grill, stream- You name it!"_ ,she answered with a smile, before she spawned some fire in her hand. Tora took a step way in shock. I was pretty impressed to say the least, sometimes I really wished I could do something like that.

_"If you want Ice-Cream through, you will need someone else."_ ,she joked

"I don't need someone else." ,I said out loud, before holding my mouth shit with a hand.

_"What did you say?"_ ,Pyra asked innocently. She didn't notice! Thank god!, I thought relieved.

"N-Nothing. Just spoke to myself." ,I mumbled nervously. _Why am I saying such things? Geez_, I spoke to myself in mind. Then I noticed Tora, which seemed to have a grin which should have told me, _I exactly know what you've said_, but luckily he wasn't telling me that in person.

Meanwhile Pyra prepared the kitchen. She looked what Tora had still in storage and started cooking. In this time I was watching the Cloud Sea moving, while I thought a bit to myself.

_To think that just three days ago I was betrayed... again..., I'm starting to trust strangers pretty fast right now... Maybe it's just because he seemed pretty lonely and... I do really sort of like him. I'm not used to having such nice people around me... that's just to good to be true._

My monologue was interrupted, as Tora came to stand right next to me while Pyra was still cooking.

_"J-J thinking about something?"_ ,he asked with a worried voice.

_"Yep."_ ,I simply answered. _I should tell him a bit more. I don't want him to worry_, I thought as I continued, _"About life and all. Just three days ago I was just some guy... And now..."_

_"I think J-J is awesome! Tora glad to met you."_ he told me with a cheery voice.

_"Thanks Tora. I hope I think that I'm awesome too one day."_ I answered, while I gazed over to Pyra who was managing three pans at once.

_"Tora I think I'm going to help Pyra a bit. She seemes like she has a lot to do right now."_ I told him before starting to return inside.

_"Ok! Then Tora will continue work on secret project."_ ,he said, before he ran past me and vanished around a corner.

_Secret project?_ ,I asked, before I reached Pyra at the kitchen.

* * *

(1381)


	12. Chapter 10-1: Anxiety

Chapter 10-1: Anxiety

* * *

_"Hey Julien. Food isn't finished yet."_ ,she said, while she threw meat out of one pan into the air. It barrel-rolled a few times before it landed back on the raw side in the pan. I just stared at how fast she did everything. I would need four me's to do all that simultaneously. I then shook my head, as I remembered why I came here in the first place.

_"Pyra? D-Do you need some help?"_ ,I asked, while I thought to myself that I couldn't leave her alone with all that work.

_"I want to make some salad out of the fruits over there."_ ,she said pointing towards a bowl filled with fruits right next to her in all different forms and shapes, _"I would be glad if you could cut them into small pieces."_

She then turned over to me, while she smiled with one of the warmest expressions she has ever gave me. I nodded and turned towards the bowl and the fruits, while I tried to hide my blush, which was slowly creeping up.

Before I wanted to start working I put a hand on my stomach, while thinking,_ Is my stomach aching because I'm starving? It feels like it._

I turned over to see Pyra cooking again holding another pan in her hand, while she seemed to hum to herself. I was starting to stare at her perfect face again before abruptly turning away which she didn't seem to notice.

_No No No! I can't start thinking of her like that! I can't go through that pain again. I need to protect myself... We're friends, good friends and after taking her to Elysium I won't see her again... maybe... It's just a mission!_ ,I shouted at myself in my mind as I realized what feeling began to creep up all the time. I started to feel myself attracted to her.

_"Julien? You're ok? You seem stressed out. You can talk to me if you want."_ ,Pyra asked me, after she laid down the pan she had in her hand.

_I can't talk to you over what I've been thinking and most importantly my past. I can't bind myself even stronger... It's just going to hurt even more... If anything should happen_, I thought before saying: _"I-I think I'm just tired and hungry, that's all."_ Her look on her face told me, that she didn't seemed to believe me.

_"Oh... Then why don't you rest for a bit until I'm done? I can cut the fruits too, you don't need to worry about me."_ ,she said smiling, but I could hear a bit of disappointment in her voice. Her smile also wasn't shining out the same warmth it usually did.

_"No I really want to help you! We can rest after this is done and we are faster that way!"_ ,I said before starting to cut the fruits into small pieces as she told me. I could see Pyra turning over to her work again.

This is all getting a bit much for me. I need to calm down and give this all some thought some other time.

* * *

(552)


	13. Chapter 11: Drivers

Chapter 11: Drivers

* * *

_"This is absolutely delicious!"_ ,I shouted through the whole room, as I took the next bite of the meat, Pyra had prepared.

_"Pyra really great at cooking!"_ ,Tora replied.

_"Oh it was nothing, just preparing some sauces and the meat was pretty easy. Also because you helped me a bit Julien!"_ ,she said while she smiled. It could enlighten a whole a whole room at this point.

_Easy? That was easy? I would really like to know how she defines hard at this point,_ I thought as I took the last piece of the meat. At first it felt spicy but soon it turned to a hearty taste, before even getting a bit sweet. Meanwhile the meat was literally melting on my tongue.

Pyra then stood up and gave a little portion of the salad to each of us. I spotted that she prepared a sauce which she put over the salad. Let's see how it tastes...

_"Oh my god! That sauce you've added brings it all to a whole new level!"_ It was a explosion of many different flavors, which all harmonized perfectly together. After a few seconds Tora already finished. That would give us the answer whether he liked it or not.

As we finished up, I helped Pyra washing the dishes. After we finished, Tora has vanished.

_"Come all here for a second!"_ ,we could hear Tora shout of a separate room. We followed his voice and found him standing in front of a curtain with some machines standing in front of him.

_"My secret project! I don't want to worry friends any longer."_ ,he said while took off the curtains to reveal a robot, which seemed extremely detailed. I was pretty impressed.

_"Oh wow! So your building a robot?"_ ,I told him as he shook his head.

_"Not just a robot, a artificial blade."_ he explained proudly.

_"Artificial blade? Thats awesome Tora!"_ ,Pyra also seemed impressed by Tora's work.

_So she can also collect ether like blades do? And how is this even possible? And why..._

_"Tora?"_ I started, having an quite important question on my mind, _"Why don't you just resonate with a normal core crystal?"_

He looked at me with a sad expression. Did I hid a vulnerable spot there?

_"Tora did try. Tora just failed many times."_ he said still facing down.

_"Wait? What even happens when a non-suitable driver tries to resonate with a core crystal Pyra?"_ ,I remembered that I wanted to ask her at some point, but forgot about it.

_"The power is overloading the body which mostly results to unconsciousness."_ Pyra looked quite worried towards Tora._ And he has gone through that multiple times?_

_"It was bad. Tora had nosebleed for three days."_

_"Just nosebleed?_" After Pyra's description of what would happen that seemed a bit understated.

_"What do you mean 'just'?! People die from loss of blood, you know?"_ ,Tora said in a serious tone. It's still a bit weird.

_"Anyway moving on, back to Tora's Blade. When complete, even no-potential driver like Tora can be a Driver!"_ ,he said hopefully.

_"Did you build it from scratch or..."_ ,I asked, curious about how he manage to build something so complicated.

_"Hm, it was started by Grampypon and Dadapon. But Grampypon die, and Tora still don't know where Dadapon go to..."_ ,he explained.

_"Wait your father is missing?"_ ,I asked in surprise.

_"He just disappear a long time ago."_ ,he answered before saying: _"Tora will finish Blade and become Driver like always wanted. Then Dadapon hear about Tora's success and come back home, yes?"_ He is so full of hope, it is truly contagious.

_"Seems like a plan."_ ,I answered giving him a smile.

_"Oh Tora."_ ,Pyra also seemed stunned about his optimism. Then I turned over to the artificial blade and gave it a closer look.

_"Tora, this Blade seems pretty much completed. Is there something still missing?"_ ,I asked out of curiosity. This Blade is really fascinating me. I always liked advanced technology, but this just plays in another league.

_"Just three Bion Connectors are missing, but the only ones the ardainian bullies confiscated."_ Tora was looking at us quite suspect fully.

_"So you want us to get them for you."_ ,I said, while I folded my arms in front of my chest.

_"That would make Tora happy!"_ he told us with a hopeful voice.

But we still had something else to worry about. We still needed to find out where Nia and Dromarch were. We could find some info there.

_"Confiscated things often brought to ardainian camp in harbor. Maybe you find out where your friends are."_ ,Tora added.

_"But how are we supposed to get in there?"_ ,I asked him. He gave me grin.

_"Come here."_ ,he said while walking towards a big wardrobe. As he opened it an ardainian uniform was to be seen.

_"How did you get one of these?"_ ,I asked him. He truly was full of surprises.

_"Tora pranked one of ardainian bullies once..."_ Ok, Ok I don't need to know more.

_"So I put this on and just walk inside the camp? What if get caught? I"m defenseless without Pyra. Maybe she could just wait outside-"_ I asked him with a raised eyebrow before he interrupted me. It still seemed too risky.

_"Wait, Tora also has disguise for Pyra."_ ,he said pulling out something that looked like a hoody, _"Just pull over the hood above your head."_

_"How do I look?"_ ,she asked as she put it on._ She really looked cute... B-But I can't tell her that,_ I thought before I said:_ "You look good! I really hope nobody will notice you."_

_"Tora also knows that camp isn't heavy guarded at night."_ He seemed pretty good prepared for this whole thing.

_"Ok Tora I'm in. In exchange you're going to help us rescuing Nia and Dromarch when you finished your Blade."_ ,I told him with a serious expression.

_"Yes! Tora will help friends as good as Tora can!"_ ,he answered before I took the uniform and went into another room while I changed my clothes.

This is going to be fun.

* * *

(1045)


	14. Chapter 12: Infiltration

Chapter 12: Infiltration

* * *

_"What did I got myself into..."_ ,I said to myself while I tried to put on the ardainian helmet, _"Hey could someone help me?"_

_"Of course."_ ,I could hear Pyra answer me. She came over to me and pushed the helmet over my head.

_"Man that thing is gonna hurt."_ ,I mumbled.

_"Haha J-J's voice just sounds like bully that wear it!"_ ,Tora laughed. _Oh well thats convenient_, I thought.

After we were finished preparing ourselves, we gathered at a desk where Tora seemed to draw something.

_"Ehm Tora what are you doing?"_ ,I asked after trying to find out what it showed but it was unrecognizable.

_"Tora drawing ardainian camp to show where friend can go to."_ ,he answered as I realized that it was some sort of infiltration plan.

_"That's nice of you Tora."_ ,Pyra thanked him.

Tora smiled at her before turning over to his plan again, pointing towards a spot which seemed like an entry.

_"Pyra stay in front of the camp. Julien then go to greet guard that is standing in front of entry. Warehouses should be on the right."_ _What? I should just go and say hello?_

_"Tora that-"_ ,I tried to complain before Tora continued.

_"The armor that J-J is wearing is from an important one. Soldiers shouldn't ask questions."_ ,he explained. I recognized the badges on the uniform.

_"Ok and after I'm in I should just look for these Bion Connectors? How do I even find them? I don't know how they look like."_ ,I asked.

_"There should be crates with names on it."_ _Should? I really hope he's right with that,_ I thought as I turned to face Pyra.

_"Are you ready? I will run to you if I'm in trouble."_ ,I asked as I gave her the sword. It was a weird feeling going inside such a place unarmed.

_"Yeah I'm ready. Tora when should be go?"_ ,she asked Tora in a calm tone. _How did she manage to stay so calm?_

_"Somewhere in the next 2 hours is best."_

_"I really hope everything works out fine! And I hope we will also find out where Nia and Dromarch are..."_ ,I told him before me and Pyra opened the front door.

_"I wish friends good luck. I also have a escape plan ready."_ ,he suddenly revealed to us.

_"What escape plan?"_ ,I asked him surprised.

_"You will see when necessary."_ ,he answered before Pyra closed the door behind us.

_"So Pyra... I'm a bit nervous."_ ,I said as I looked at her. She gave me a smile while she put a hand on my shoulder.

_"I will protect you." _,is all she said.

_No not that feeling again. I need to calm down!_, I shouted at myself in my mind as we slowly walked towards the camp.

We didn't talked much while we got there. I was busy calming me down as Pyra looked for dangers.

After five minutes the front gate was in sight.

_"Pyra stay here while I'm in there. It shouldn't take me too long."_ ,I said while Pyra sat down on a bench around 100 meters away from the camp. As I was walking I could hear her say: _"Please be careful."_

_Please Nia, Dromarch please be somewhere nearby. I could never forgive me if anything should happen to you both..._,I thought as I saw the first guard approaching me.

_"Hello officer!"_ ,he greeted me while he bowed down a bit._ Ok try to act as normal as you can._

_"Hello, I'm sorry but I'm busy right now."_ ,I said as I tried to speak as neutral as I could.

_"Of course!"_ ,he said as got out of my way.

_Well that was easy,_ I thought as I entered the camp. Luckily there weren't much people around. I spotted the two little warehouses to my right. Before I entered them I heard two guards talking to each other.

_"Unbelievable that we finally caught her."_

_"Yeah. Some guy which is supposed to be the driver of the aegis just left her. Pretty cold-hearted if you ask me."_

_"I think even if they tried, they wouldn't had a chance against the Flamebringer."_

_"Yeah you're right."_

_They should stop underestimating me,_ I thought as I approached them.

_"I wouldn't be so sure. The aegis is supposed to be pretty powerful."_ ,I started. Maybe not the most intelligent thing to say right now.

_"Yeah I guess you're right, but I think Morag would still beat them."_ ,one guard said. _I should just keep my mouth shut about that topic right now and ask what I need to know,_ I thought.

_"I missed the escort of the two prisoners. Where were they taken to?"_ ,I asked.

_"In the prison on the warship of course."_ ,the same guard from before answered before the other one stepped between us.

_"I heard some rumors about some orders from Morag herself."_ ,he said enthusiastically.

_"What?"_, I asked surprised.

_"I heard that the captured Torna terrorists are supposed to be executed in three days."_

_Wha-What? They want them executed? I need to hurry!,_ I thought as I hurried inside one of the warehouses. I sped through it to find the right crate.

_Ha! Found it_, I thought as I took three of these Bion thingies and wanted to leave as one guard stopped me.

_"You're behaving quite strange all of the sudden, officer."_ ,he told me.

_"Sorry but I need to go."_ ,I tried to push him out of the way but the other one came and also blocked my way.

_"No we're going to take you to your room."_ ,he said while I heard footsteps coming our way.

_"Burning sword!"_ ,Pyra was shouting as her flames kicked the guards out of the way.

_"Julien! We gotta get out of here!"_, she said while another guard seemed to come our way. Suddenly a little missile flew against one of the warehouse, the broken wall was now blocking the way for them.

I ran as fast as I could while Pyra kept an eye on me and together we managed to get out of the camp.

_"Pyra I-"_ ,I tried to start but Pyra interrupted me.

_"We're gonna talk when we're back. We need to hurry right now."_ ,she said still facing towards the camp to look if anyone was following us.

* * *

As we reached Tora's home I ripped off the helmet and threw it across the room.

_"Shit. Shit. Shit."_ ,I shouted. I still couldn't believe what I've just heard.

_"Did mission go wrong?"_ ,Tora asked, "I saw J-J in danger and fired missile."

_"Thanks Tora that helped a lot!"_ ,Pyra told him while I was standing next to the desk, leaning forward.

_"Julien? What did you...",_ Pyra started.

_"They gonna execute them in three days!"_, I screamed. **_Not again, not again! I'm not going to lose someone ever again..._**

_"What?"_ ,Pyra was in shock.

_"Meh-meh..."_ ,Tora also didn't know how he was supposed to respond. Then I remembered something.

_"Here are the Bion Connectors you wanted."_ ,I said while laying them down on the desk, _"That blade of yours will help us to save them as fast as we can!"_

_"Right! J-J's right. Tora should start work right away!"_ ,he said while grabbing the parts and vanishing behind the curtains.

I sat down and tried to get some rest after all this... Pyra accompanied me.

_"Are you alright? I know it's-"_ ,she tried to talk to me before I cut her of.

_"Please Pyra... I need some time alone!"_ ,I told her in a pretty loud voice. I instantly felt guilty for yelling at her.

_"Pyra... I'm sorry that I yelled at you. It's just that..."_ ,I tried to explain before she stood up and laid a hand on my shoulder reassuringly.

_"I understand."_ Thats all she said before she walked over to Tora to watch him while he worked on his blade.

_What does she understand? Am I so transparent? I really need to rest for a hour,_ I talked to myself before I laid my head on the desk and drifted into a rather restless sleep.

* * *

(1397)


	15. Chapter 13: Poppy

Chapter 13: Poppy

* * *

I woke up as I heard loud thunder. It seemed to storm outside. Rain was splashing against the windows.

As I looked towards a watch I noticed that already 3 hours hours passed since Tora started working. _What the hell is taking him so long?_, I thought as I stood up to see if he is finished.

_"Oh hi J-J. You came right in time."_ ,he said while opening the curtains, _"Everything is finished. Tora just need to wait for thunder to strike. Tora needs energy to activate."_

_"So you're telling me that without the thunderstorm right now, this Blade couldn't have been completed?"_ ,I asked him in a serious tone. _But I guess we're just lucky right now so I shouldn't complain_, I thought while Pyra stepped inside the room.

_"You're finished Tora?"_, she asked while she rubbed her eyes. She seemed like she rested a bit too.

_"Yes! Tora just still waiting for-"_ Right in that moment a bright light was followed by a big explosion and Tora's machine begun to blinking.

_"Wakey-wakey-"_ ,Tora wanted to flip the switch, but Pyra interrupted him.

_"Wait Tora. She will be your Blade so you should give her a name at least."_ ,Pyra told him. She was right, he couldn't just name her artificial blade. After a few seconds he flipped the switch while shouting. _"Now wakey-wakey! Tora's very own blade! Poppy!"_ Another explosion occurred after flipping it and the whole house was shaking, but I was only questioning myself why the hell he needed to name her that way.

As everything settled down, we watched the blade to see if everything would work but...

_"Poppi?"_ ,he asked before the blade slowly opened it's eyes.

_"How may I be of service master?"_ ,she jumped into the air and posed like... I just had no words, I was completely speechless and so was Pyra.

_"W-w-wait a minute? Ohh forget you see that! Tora must change the settings! Hhm..."_ ,he said while he jumped to his machines nervously. Y_eah right... just the wrong settings_, I thought.

After a few seconds he turned over to us and said: _"Th-This time should be ok! Second try go best so powerrrr on!"_

He flipped the switch again. This time it wasn't shaking as much as it did before. I really hope this was just really a mistake, otherwise I'm always going to take a safety distance of five meters from him, I joked to myself a bit.

Meanwhile Poppy slowly opened her eyes again. I was expecting the worst but...

_"Greetings, Masterpon!"_ ,she said with a normal voice. _No jumping or posing so it should be alright now_,I thought.

_"I-I did it!"_ ,Tora said as he jumped through the room happily, _"Tora's masterpiece! Worlds first artificial blade! Poppi!"_

I still thought that the name was hilarious but I was still pretty impressed by such advanced tech.

_"Incredible!"_ ,Pyra was also impressed by how good it seemed to work on the second try.

_"Tora did good? Tora a very big success?"_ ,he said.

_"Yeah that's pretty impressive Tora!" ,I started, "But I was caught off guard when she was so..."_

_"Forget about it! That's not Tora's fault! That was um..."_ ,he said while he thought for a second before he continued, _"Grampypon! Grampypon Soosoo made settings! Yes must be Grampypon's fault."_

Suddenly Pyra was leaning forward to him giving him a suspectful look. _"You're sure Tora?"_

_"Yes, Grampypon yes..."_, he tried to answer. _Did he just started sweating?_

Pyra was looking towards a wardrobe which seemed to be pushed open because of the thunder from earlier. I could see a lot of strange looking leaking out of it. _What the hell did Tora had in mind for her originally?_

_"Well ,let's not dwell on that. Julien! We have to save Nia and Dromarch!"_ ,Pyra was now facing me giving me her warm smile. Every time I saw it I got the same tingling feeling I've always gotten, but I had no time to worry about that right now.

_"Yes you're right! No time to lose!"_ ,I answered while I caught new hope. _We are going to save them!_

_"Anyway, my name Poppi. Poppi try hard to make Masterpon proud!"_

* * *

(735)


	16. Chapter 14: Rescue

Chapter 14: Rescue

* * *

_"Where did you get that now from? You really have everything Tora!"_ ,I asked surprised, looking at the piece of paper he took out of his pocket. Meanwhile the sun already rose from the sky.

_"Tora also found that with the uniform, thought it can get useful."_ ,he answered. The paper was a map. A map from the warship, showing where exactly the prison is situated.

_"So how exactly do we get in? We can't just break through the front door."_ ,I asked. Pyra pointed on a big branch that looked like it could help us getting inside unseen.

_"With my hook we should get up there. Let's hope the map is correct."_ We need to act fast now.

We didn't wasted any time. Me, Tora, Poppy, Pyra which still wore her cute disguise, we all left the house and went to the warship, while we tried to stay hidden. After we reached it, we spotted the branch that was found on the map. We climbed down and found ourselves under the ship, with the entry 20 meters above us.

_"I will shoot myself up there with my hook. After that I'm going to pull you all up one after the other."_ ,I said while I aimed and pulled the trigger. I hitted the spot I aimed for and reversed the hook, so it pulled me up. After that I shoot the hook down again, waiting for someone to hold onto it. Pyra was the first to step up.

_"I will pull you up now."_ ,I said while I tried to start pulling, but she seemed too heavy.

_I can't tell her that. Keep trying!_, I shouted at myself. I finally managed to lift her a few meters as my arms started to get weak.

_"C'mon nearly made it!"_ ,I shouted at myself, as the weight suddenly lifted. I could see Pyra standing in front of me, while I tried to catch some air.

_"Huh Julien?"_ ,Pyra asked me with a worried expression.

_"No everything is fine."_ ,I said while I tried to stand upright, even if I was still out of breath. Suddenly I heard a strange noise. I looked up to see where it came from.

_"Out of way!"_ ,Poppy was shouting as she flew up with Tora in her arms. I instantly ducked while they landed behind me.

_"What? Poppy can fly?"_ ,I asked Tora furiously.

_"Tora gave Poppy all kinds of useful things."_ ,he just answered. _And I try to lift Pyra up and nearly died in the process!,_ I shouted at myself, as we slowly walked inside the ship.

_"This seems to be a gigantic ventilation shaft. Let's see where we come out."_ ,I said after I calmed down with the map in my hand. It wasn't shown where we would end up at the end of the shaft. Suddenly I could hear the noises of guards talking.

_"C'mon let's grab something to eat."_

_"But what if something happens?"_

_"It won't. C'mon now or the best buns will be eaten before we arrive!"_

I heard them walk away until I heard a closing door.

_"Poppy feels presence of Blade nearby."_, Poppy stated.

_"We seem to be close to the cafeteria so... The prison should be this way!"_ ,I pointed towards the exact opposite way. According to the map the prison isn't far away. After five minutes we reached it without seeing another guard.

_"Where are they? It's like they want that we free them."_ ,I said as we checked every door.

As we knocked on the third door, we could hear someone respond but it was to quiet to really understand who it was.

_"Pyra could you try to melt the door?"_ ,I asked her and she nodded in response. She started throwing fire against it.

_"Wait... Pyra stop!"_ ,I shouted as I recognized the flaw in my plan. Not that the one that was inside is being fried by her, but it was too late and the door was gone.

_"Umm... I didn't hurt anyone did I?"_ ,she asked worried. She was always so sweet and caring...

Dromach was crouching on the floor. He must have seen the danger and ducked before it was too late.

_"That was close Pyra..."_ ,I said while I checked for Dromarch.

_"Sorry, it's hard to judge the power sometimes."_ ,she apologized. I just could never be mad at her.

_"Pyra! Julien!"_ Dromarch seemed to be happy to see us.

_"It's good to see you still alive!"_ ,I said while I smiled at him. Tora urged between me and him.

_"It very good!"_ ,he said cheerfully. Poppy was now also facing him.

_"See Masterpon? There was a Blade here!"_

_"Forgive me, but who are they?"_ ,he asked a bit confused.

_"First come out of there. Then I'm going to tell you."_ ,I said waving with my hand to our direction.

A few minutes passed where me and Pyra explained Dromarch what happend the past two days.

_"But we don't have much time now. We still need to find Nia."_ ,I said looking around if we missed any doors.

_"I can show you where she is, we're in resonance after all. I feel her presence."_ ,he explained. _That means she must be ok_, I thought relieved.

We followed Dromarch till we reached a single door. Two guards were blocking our way.

_"What are we doing now?"_ ,I asked the crew.

_"I think we need to fight. It seems there is no other way."_ ,Pyra answered and so I took my sword and loaded up a fire-slash which kicked the two guards out of the way. _Well that was easy,_ I thought as I found a key laying on the floor. One of the guards must have lost it.

I slowly unlocked the door.

_"Jin?"_ ,I could hear Nia ask.

_"No Julien and the rest. Are you alright?"_ ,I said looking at her worriedly. She was sitting on the cold ground. _Why was she saying Jin's name?_

"Julien, you..." ,she seemed surprised. Dromarch was now approaching her.

_"My lady. Apologies for my late arrival."_ ,he said while he bowed down in front of her. She was looking at him in disbelief.

_"Don't mention it. I didn't thought anyone was coming at all..."_ ,she told him sadly. I was now also approaching her.

_"I would never leave a friend behind. That's something I've learned a long time ago."_ ,I said while I gave her a warm smile. I stretched out my arm for her.

_"Well, that's you all over, ain't it."_ ,she said while she took my hand before I pulled her. She seemed grateful, grateful that we cared for her.

_"J-J! Tora has found escape route! Hurry Hurry!"_ ,Tora was shouting as he jumped around the corner and vanished as fast as he showed up.

_"A nopon?"_ ,Nia was asking surprised.

_"He has been quite helpful. He is our friend!"_ ,I said while I started to run so that I could catch up with them.

_"Haha J-J"_ ,Nia was laughing while we were running. That name is going to hunt me forever I thought as I said: _"Hey that wasn't my idea!"_

We followed Tora to a big iron gate.

_"This must be exit!"_ ,Tora said while pointing forward.

_"Yes, I can see the daylight."_ ,I replied. Suddenly it seemed to open.

_"This smells like a trap..."_ ,Nia was now preparing herself for a battle.

_"There is no other way!"_ ,I said as I prepared myself too and looked over to Pyra, _"Are you ready?"_

_"Yes I am. Let's get out of here."_ ,Pyra was giving the OK to advance. After passing a little bridge we were now standing inside the camp we infiltrated earlier. They seemed busy with repairing the half-destroyed warehouse.

Suddenly I could hear a voice shouting at us, but I couldn't make out what it said and where it came from.

_"Julien, watch out!"_ ,I could hear Nia say as blue flames flew our way. Pyra blocked them right on time.

_"It's her again!"_ ,I shouted. I felt the anger inside me again. I recognized that two persons walked through the flames.

_"And that must be her Driver."_ ,I said while focusing so I could counter, if they should attack.

_"Morag Ladair, the Flamebringer!"_ ,Dromarch told me. _So she's the one these guards talked about but where was she last time?_, I thought.

_"She is special inquisitor of Mor Adrain and by far the strongest Driver in the Empire... and wielder of Brighid, the most powerful Blade."_

_"So I guess they are powerful."_ I said a bit sarcastically. _If they are going to stand in my way or hurt my friends..._,I thought as I clenched my hand into a fist.

_"It looks like they were waiting for us."_ ,Pyra said, standing right next to me.

_"Yeah, it seemed all too easy to be true."_ I answered.

_"Like rats in a trap."_ ,she began to say, _"It was pretty easy to trick you."_

_"What?" Was she trying to play some mind games now?_

_"It doesn't matter."_ ,she made a short pause while taking a few steps towards us, _"The emerald Core Crystal is the sign of the Aegis. If that Blade is indeed the Aegis... then there is something I must do."_

_"What the hell do you mean?"_ ,I shouted at her as Pyra gave me a look like she wanted to tell me to calm down and focus.

_"The power to sunder Alrest itself... I can not allow that to happen again."_ She was changing her position as if she is going to attack every moment. _What the hell is she even talking about?!_

_"Pyra... destroyed the world? Don't be so stupid! She wouldn't-"_ ,I said but I was cut off by Morag.

_"You mean you didn't know? Five hundred years ago, during the Aegis war..."_ She made a short break again before continuing, _"The Aegis sank three continents to the Cloud Sea's bed!"_

_What? That can't be true!_, I thought as I put my head into my left hand, _No! She wouldn't do that!_

_"I speak naught but historical fact."_ ,she said to underline her statement.

I slowly looked over to Pyra. She looked... afraid... sad... I never met a person as sweet and caring as her. _She is supposed to destroy half of the world?_, I thought as I turned over to Morag again.

_"Pyra wouldn't do something like that! You just want to use her power for yourself do you? Use her as a weapon! I'm going to protect her! We all will!"_ , I shouted at her as I positioned myself in front of Pyra. My anger rose and rose...

_"That's precisely the kind of scenario that I mean to prevent!"_ ,she answered me angrily.

_"I don't care about what you say anymore! I'm going to protect her if anyone wants to do her harm!"_, I shouted. I knew by this point this would end in a fight so I didn't cared about holding myself back anymore. I have the power to protect what matters and I'm gonna use it if I must!

_"Then I will have to restrain you by force."_ ,she said while her swords extended into some sort of whips. I strengthend my grip around my sword and stormed towards her. Pyra followed me and the others positioned themselves behind me.

I jumped at her, trying to slash her directly, but she blocked and pushed me a few meters away.

Tora than jumped up and threw his shield assisted by Poppy, but she evaded it with ease and hitted him with one of her swords, throwing him into the next wall.

_"Tora!"_ ,I screamed, as I loaded up a fire-slash and aimed at her while she wasn't looking. But she evaded again and stormed towards me. Luckily I was able to block in time and push her away. Nia then ran to me.

_"Are you ok?"_ ,she asked me before she turned over to Morag and Brighid and wanted to attack them before I could follow her. Again the attacks failed drastically and were countered by Morag. I tried to catch up but she also sent Nia and Dromarch flying back.

_"Nia! Dromarch!"_ ,I screamed again before facing Morag, _"How dare you!"_

Out of anger I stormed at her again, even if I felt that Pyra was trying to hold me back on this one. Again the slash gone into nothing and I was kicked out of the way and almost got burned in the process.

_"Pathetic. Just give up."_ ,I could hear Morag say in the distance. I saw that she was able to put some distance between me and Pyra.

_"I will never give up!"_ ,I tried to shout, but the last hit still hurted a lot. I wanted to take my sword, but then I realized I lost it when I got hit. I could see Pyra taking it up in the distance as she stormed towards Morag. She tried to hit her but it was the same like for all of us. Morag tried to counter her but she evaded these attacks too. I looked back on the ground while I desperately tried to stand up, but I just wasn't able to.

Suddenly I felt sharp pain in my chest as I heard Pyra screaming in pain. I saw her tumbling onto the ground.

_She... She did..._ Time seemed to stop while I tried to process what just happend.

I slowly tried to walk over to Pyra, completely ignoring the pain I felt. I examined the wound that she got while I carefully stroked her cheek.

_You are hurt... You are hurt..._, I kept repeating to myself.

Right in that moment I completely lost myself. I could feel the anger overtaking me, controlling every move of my body. I stood up as if I was never hitted in the first place, taking the sword in my right hand, grabbing it as tight as I could.

_"What?"_ ,Morag shouted in surprise after she saw me.

_"You. Will. Not. Touch. Her."_ ,I said in an intimidating voice. I slowly approached her as I formed a gigantic darkred fire-slash.

_"How?"_ ,she shouted in disbelief. She tried to got ready for it, as I threw it opon her. It seemed like she successfully blocked it, but I felt that part of the attack broke through. After I stormed towards them, I tried to hit Morag with my sword while she was still off guard, but with the remaining power she had, she blocked it, looking deep into my eyes. I saw that Brighid was knocked out lying on the floor, as Morag pushed me a few meters away.

_"Where do you get that power from?"_ ,she shouted at me, while she tried not to lose her balance.

_"You hurted her. You hurted all my friends. You're going to pay!"_ ,I said as I lunged out to make the fatal blow but then...

**_"Stop! Please Stop!"_**

I could feel arms grabbing me from behind... I could feel Pyra embracing me, sobbing into my shoulder, _"Please..."_

All the anger flooded away, it was soon replaced by a feeling of guilt.

_"I...I just wanted to protect you... and everyone else..."_ ,I said while tears began running down my eyes. She was not letting go of me while I slowly crouched down on the floor, because my whole energy seemed to have been drained within a few seconds, while my mind slowly embraced the darkness that approached me.

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(2644)


	17. Chapter 15: Campfire

**Reviews:**

DSpaceZ: First of all, thanks for your review :) I've already written the first 24 chapters and I can say that his powers will have an important role later on. If you have anything positive or negative to point out in the following chapters, I would be happy to get your feedback.

And without ado, lets get back to Alrest.

* * *

Chapter 15: Campfire

I didn't saw or heard anything for a long time. I couldn't even think, everything seemed empty.

But... I didn't felt cold, not at all. I was always embraced by a warm feeling like... like...

Suddenly I could feel my body again. I slowly began to hear something. A faint sound of rustling fire. I slowly tried to open my eyes, but I was blinded from a bright light and tried to move over, but the pain in my chest returned while I did so.

_"Don't move too much. I just finished patching you up."_ ,I could hear Nia say, _"It could still hurt a bit, but it should be gone till tomorrow."_

_"The wound won't heal that fast."_ ,I said. I knew how it looked on Pyra, it would take a few days or even more to heal completely._ Wait, Pyra!_

_"How is Pyra?!"_ ,I said out loudly, which caused pain in my chest again.

_"Stop wigglin. It will heal even faster, if you would stop movin' around."_ ,she said with a serious expression on her face ,_"She is fine. Don't worry. I patched her up too."_

_"I still worry about her..."_ ,I said while remembering the fight with Morag. _Wait there is still something that seemed off...,_ I thought

_"How did we even got here?"_ ,I asked, confused about how we were able to flee.

_"Some time after you passed out, Morag said she won't bug us as long as you two are travelin' together. We fled out of Torigoth and Pyra even helped me to drag ur ass up here despite her injuries."_ ,she explained. I managed to sit up as I took a view around the little camp the others must have put up. I could Tora sleeping on the ground with Poppy right next to him and Pyra lying with her head on a log while sleeping too.

_"You know what? I will help you getting over to her so you stop crying."_ ,she said while she stretched an arm out for me. I gladly accepted and she accompanied me over to Pyra.

I slowly laid down right next to her on my side so I could face her. I tried using the log as a sort of pillow too.

_"Now get some rest."_ ,she said while she started cuddling with Dromarch, who patiently waited for her.

I focused on Pyra.

_She... she carried me here... with all her injuries she just got because I was too weak...,_ I thought as I remembered all the rage that took me over in the middle of the fight, as all my friends were beaten.

_What was that anyway?... It felt similar to the pain I felt when... I felt when..._, I remembered the death of my family. I knew it was already over a month ago but it still hurted, as if it just happend a few seconds ago.

_"Julien... why are you crying...?"_ ,I was ripped out of my thoughts, as Pyra looked at me with a sleepy but worried expression on her face.

_"It's... n-not so important..."_ ,I said while closing my eyes. I didn't wanted to talk about it, not now when it all still ripped myself apart.

_"I...I sometimes feel such strong darkness... consuming your whole mind... I'm... always afraid when this happens..."_ ,she said while I opened my eyes again. She seemed like she also started crying a little.

_Is she afraid? But how does she even..._

_"How do you feel that?"_ ,I asked her, while I desperately tried to keep my feelings in check.

_"We share the same life. When you concentrate hard enough you should feel my mind too..."_ ,she said while she wiped her tears away. _Was our bond this close?_, I thought. I noticed that I was just way too tired to concentrate like that.

_"I really hope... you'll trust me and tell me one day..."_ ,she said, while she slowly closed her eyes. I didn't knew how I should answer, so I closed mine too.

_I trust her, way more than I did anybody else in my whole life... at least I think that I do. When I'm close to her, I... just feel safe. I just know that she would never betray or hurt me. But how do I even know that? Maybe this is all because of the bond we share... Maybe she already knows about my life I had... Maybe she just wants me to open up to her, to show her that I really trust her... I-I can't hide it forever... I'm hurting her... She..._, I thought to myself as more questions came up that were bugging me.

_Who was she exactly, what is her history and how did she got inside this machine she was in when I first met her? Is there any truth to what Morag said earlier?_

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(891)


	18. Chapter 16: Ophion

**Reviews:**

DSpaceZ:

1\. I already thought about changing the format to:

_Speech: _"Hello!"

_Thought: He can only be nice_

or

Speech: "Hello!"

Thought: _{He can only be nice.}_

Maybe you have got some better ideas. I will keep using the old one until I decided which one I want to use.

2\. The numbers just mean how much words each chapter has.

3\. I don't want to throw around with spoilers too much. His anger is going to play a big role, but I can say that something unexpected will happen.

* * *

And without further ado, lets get back to Alrest!

Chapter 16: Ophion

* * *

_"We can go see Unclepon Umon, maybe he can give us one."_ ,I could hear Tora say as I woke up. _Man I really slept bad this time,_ I thought as I slowly stood up.

_"Finally you decided to wake up. How's you wound?"_ ,Nia said a bit sarcastically. _Huh? I didn't felt any pain anymore. The wound is completely gone,_ I thought.

_"It told ya."_ ,she grinned at me.

_"Thank you! I should not have doubted you in the first place."_ ,I said while I scratched my neck nervously.

_"Yep"_, she said while I looked around and saw that Pyra was missing. Nia noticed that.

_"She is just looking for a way to reach Tora's Uncle. He is supposed to build ships."_ ,she said while getting on Dromarch. _You have two healthy legs you know,_ I thought while I watched her.

_"He does!"_ ,I could hear Tora complain.

_"C'mon we need to catch up to her."_ ,Nia shouted as she already got on her way. I decided to follow her.

After a few minutes I could see Pyra in the distance, examining some flowers on the ground.

_"Oh hello."_ ,she said after she saw that we were watching her. She stood up and greeted us with a smile.

_"Uh hello"_, I said nervously. I remembered our little talk from yesterday, so I still felt kind of embarrassed. I tried to concentrate and I could really feel that she was also unsure on how to approach me. As much as I wanted to tell her sometimes I just couldn't do it, because I did not wanted to think about it. It just hurted too much.

_"I-I heard Tora speaking of his Uncle earlier and that he could give us a ship. Did you found out where it is?"_ ,I asked her. I just needed to talk about different things, maybe this is all forgotten one day.

_"Yes, I saw a house near the cloud sea down there."_ She said while pointing downwards the grass field we were standing on. _"I just wanted to wait for all of you."_

_"Ok then we should waste no more time!"_ ,I said to everyone as I started running down the path. Did I do it to avoid embarrassing questions? Maybe.

* * *

As we reached the house we were greeted by another Nopon, who instantly recognized Tora.

_"Tora! This big surprise!"_ ,said Tora's Uncle happily.

_"Long time no see Unclepon!"_ ,Tora said in return.

_"Yes long time! About one whole year?"_

_"Yes, about that!"_

_"You became really big in one year, Tora!"_

_"Yes, Tora no Littlepon anymore!"_

_"And Tora has lots of sidekicks!"_ I decided to wave my hand a bit.

_"J-J and friends are not sidekicks! They are real friends Umon!"_ ,Tora said before turning over to me, _"J-J meet Unclepon Umon. He did great research with Grampypon! He is great builder of ships!"_

_"Hello!"_ ,I said grinning at him.

_"Greetings!"_ ,I could hear Pyra say.

_"At your service."_ Dromarch greeted him too.

_"I see. Tora has lot's of friends! Very good! Tora has become fine biggipon"_ ,his Uncle said while smiling at him. I really found it a bit cute how Nopons talked to each other.

_"Well Tora. Did you need Umon's help for something?"_ ,he now asked him.

_"Well we wanted to borrow a ship. From Unclepon Umon."_ ,he said. There was no other way to get to the World Tree.

_"A ship? But there are lot's of ship's in Torigoth."_ ,he said.

_"Well unfortunately every ship in Torigoth is under control of the ardainian Empire and we have absolutely no gold to pay for them."_ ,I answered him.

Before he could say anything more he spotted Poppy standing behind Tora.

_"Is that the artificial Blade Tora's Grampypon has worked on?"_ he asked. He seemed pretty curious.

_"My name is Poppy. Pleased to meet Unclepon."_ ,Poppy said.

"Yes! This it!" ,Umon said with his wings rose to the air, _"This pretty mighty! Tora take after Grampypon indeed!"_

_"Ohh well how can I refuse Tora now?"_ ,he stated, while he took us inside of his house. A big ship could be seen in the middle.

_"Tora may use Umon's ship!"_ ,he said pointing towards it. It was a big Titan with a upper half of a ship built on it.

_"Thank you! We owe you!"_ ,I thanked him and so did the others.

_"Indeed! Hope you enjoy your trip wherever it takes you!"_ ,he said while the ship slowly swam out of his house, out to the Cloud Sea.

* * *

**A few hours later**

_"Why is it so hot right now..."_ ,I complained while steering the ship. The sun was burning down on us.

_"At least we nearly made it to the World Tree..."_ ,Nia said, trying to stay in the shadow. The tree was way bigger than I remembered it to be.

I could see Pyra walking to the front part of the ship. She wasn't moving for over five minutes so I started to worry. Suddenly she turned towards us with a frightened expression.

_"Julien! We need to leave fast! We can't stay here!"_ ,she shouted.

_",Wha-Why?"_ ,I was caught off guard by her sudden change of mood. Suddenly a gigantic being came out of the Cloud Sea looking a us.

_"Ophion!"_ ,she shouted as the ship began to move uncontrollably.

_"How do you-"_ ,I was cut off by the being screaming at us. I tried to turn around as fast as I could but it followed us. I looked back to see if everyone was holding on to something. Only Pyra was still standing motionless on the same spot. I heard that she mumbled something to herself.

_"Pyra! Please hold onto something!"_ ,I shouted at her while I tried evading one of the attacks of this being. He missed and vanished in the Cloud Sea.

_"God... Is it over?"_ ,I asked as I saw it coming out again in the distance.

_"He seemed to have givin' up."_ Nia said as she tried to relax.

_"Friends?"_ ,Tora said while pointing towards a gigantic Titan coming our way.

_"Oh c'mon!"_ ,I shouted in disbelief. _Will we ever get some time to breath? It looks like the answer is no_, I thought while I desperately tried to steer the ship.

It opened it's mouth and we were dragged towards it. I gave up steering the ship and grabbed Pyra to protect her from any harm. A few seconds later we started falling down, no ground in sight.

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(1207)


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